It’s common for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon to have a reputation for bombast, for explosive fruitiness. Fruit-bombiness, if you will. With their 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet, Sequoia Grove Winery brings you something less common in Napa: subtlety.
Nestled among its namesake sequoia trees, Sequoia Grove Winery prides itself on an “atmosphere of unassuming sophistication.”
That seems like a reasonable thing to be proud of. Probably something lots of wineries strive for, and don’t quite hit. But it’s also a reasonably-accurate way to describe this, the 2009 vintage of their flagship Napa Valley Cabernet.
In the glass, the 2009 Sequoia Grove Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is dark purple at its core, lush and inviting. It lightens to a brick red edge, maintaining its gravitas.
On the nose, the fruit you’ll notice is primarily blackberry and black cherry. After that are less fruity notes, I picked out cedar, white pepper, and a cooking or baking spice, perhaps nutmeg. A very well-balanced nose, that should give every Cab drinker something to like.
On the palate, more cooking spices, more dark fruit, a bit of a cigar box, cedar/tobacco element. Similar to the nose: balanced, and subtle. As I hinted above, there is no bombast here; no mortars fly forth. The wine features soft tannins, and a finish shorter than I would have liked.
Despite the short finish, this is a very nice wine. It’s not massively remarkable. It’s not something I can say oh my! Go out, now, drop what you’re doing, go get some! But I can recommend it, especially to those who prefer a less-fruit-forward cabernet that still “feels” like California.
Verdict: 87/100
Price Point: $28-$40