Wine Portfolio

Q&A With the Winemaker

Q: Premiere Napa Valley wines are innovative and allow each winery to showcase the region's sense of exploration in fine winemaking. What kind of exploration did your Premiere Napa Valley wine allow you to do?

A: The small 5-acre block of "Hillside" Cabernet Sauvignon from which this Oberon Hillside Reserve auction lot is crafted grows in a band of solid basalt shale that was crumbled in order to plant the vines. The hillside and vine rows face the western setting sun during the ripening season, keeping the grapes in the sun late into the evening. The basalt shale plates underneath the vines reflect heat throughout the night that rises to the ripening grapes.

Q: What was your inspiration for this offering?

A: Not only are the berries and clusters small due to the stressed "soils," but the additional warmth through the night creates a microclimate that allows for some of the richest Cabernet fruit characters I've experienced in the Valley balanced with some of the most supple tannins I've felt. All in all, a very special and extraordinary Cabernet Sauvignon.

Q: Fill in the blanks: I chose to make this wine from this particular ______________ because ______________.

A: I chose to make this wine from this particular  Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyard  because  it is the most elegant expression of Napa Valley hillside fruit that I have ever seen.

Q: Why should a wine lover have a bottle of this wine in their cellar?

A: One must have wines from the many "Hillside" vineyards in the Napa Valley to complement the more traditional Napa Valley appellations. Only in this way can there be a true perspective. This is the way to know why the Napa Valley is one of the truly great winegrowing regions. And, it is very delicious!

Q: Any quote, poem, lyric you feel represents this wine?

A: "A GOOD wine reminds you of the grape...a GREAT wine reminds you of the place."

Pantheon Wine Shoppe

899 Skokie Boulevard
Northbrook  IL  60062
847-498-1414

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Premiere Napa Valley Wine Collection

Winery	Vintage	Variety	Appellation	Fanciful	Auction
Emblem Wines	2008	Cabernet Sauvignon	Rutherford	Michael Mondavi Family Selection	14
Gamble Family Vineyards	2009	Sauvignon Blanc	Yountville	Gamble Vineyard	14
Oberon Wines	2008	Cabernet Sauvignon	Napa Valley	Hillside Reserve, Michael Mondavi Family Selection	14
Trefethen Family Vineyards	2008	Cabernet Sauvignon	Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley		14
Clos Du Val	2006	Cabernet Sauvignon	Stags Leap District		12
Trefethen Family Vineyards	2006	Red Wine	Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley	40th Anniversary Cuvee	12
Artesa Winery	2005	Cabernet Sauvignon	Atlas Peak	Granite Hill	11
Rutherford Hill Winery	2000	Merlot	Napa Valley	Selby Creek	6
Franciscan Oakville Estate	1997	Cabernet Sauvignon (95%), Merlot (5%)	Napa Valley	Reserve	3
Rutherford Hill Winery	1997	Merlot	Napa Valley	Watson Ranch	3