2017 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red Napa Valley California USA

Winemaker Notes
Our 2017 Proprietary Red Napa Valley is a cellar-worthy wine that will reward patience over the next decade or more. Blackberry, leather and Spanish cedar are revealed at first swirl, complemented by subtle hints of dried sage. Dark and opaque, the concentrated, complex palate brings generous notes of summer cherries, wild blackberries, berry compote and figs, layered with Mexican chocolate and freshly scraped vanilla bean. Evolving in the glass, characteristics of plum, brown sugar and spice slowly emerge before a lengthy finish. The best is yet to come for this wine, as its focused intensity and firm, young tannins will age beautifully into sublime texture and fine, velvety tannins.

Press
The 2017 Proprietary Red is yet another impressive wine from Pahlmeyer. Blackberry jam, red plum, grilled herbs, lavender, black pepper and earth notes give the 2017 quite a bit of aromatic nuance to play off the dark, brooding flavors. Like the Merlot, this was just bottled quite recently; as a result the 2017 shows some tightness, but it will be gorgeous when it recovers. I can't wait to taste it with a bit of bottle age. The 2017 Proprietary Red has a lot of Cabernet energy and tannin that needs time to soften. The 2017 really grows in the glass.

Rated 95+ Points Antonio Galloni, Vinous