This wine has a deep garnet rim with a dark burgundy-hued core. A nose of sweet vanilla, cigar and blackberry carries over onto the soft, voluptuous palate. Ripe fruit flavors are accented with notes of licorice, graphic slate and unsweetened chocolate powder, while hints of dark roasted coffee show up on the very edges of the tongue.
Composition
87% Cabernet Sauvignon
5% Merlot
4% Malbec
3% Cabernet Franc
1% Petit Verdot
Vineyards
- Pahlmeyer Estate Vineyard,
- Rancho Chimiles,
- Stagecoach
Proprietary Red: An Iconic Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend
Jayson Pahlmeyer's "California Mouton" - a rich, powerful Napa Valley Bordeaux blend called Proprietary RedRead More
Critics
97 Points
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, January 2017
Fantastic aromatics with blackberries, blackcurrants and iodine. Licorice, too. Medium to fulll body, fine and velvety tannins and a very polished and gorgeous finish. Caressing and dialed in. Why wait? An intellectual wine here. Lovely now.
95 Points
James Laube, Wine Spectator, June 15, 2017
A remarkable effort, engagingly rich and concentrated, with a deep, firm mix of licorice-shaded blackberry, currant, graphite, dried herb and cedary oak notes. The flavors hold and gain, leading to a persistent finish that keeps echoing the core elements. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2030. 5,000 cases made.
94 Points
Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, December 2016
The 2014 Proprietary Red Wine is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot, Merlot and Malbec, again, showing slightly less depth than its two surrounding siblings, but beautiful pure fruit, silky, velvety tannins, a layered mouthfeel and deep blackcurrant and black cherry fruit intermixed with cedar wood, fruitcake and smoky oak. This is a terrific wine as well and it will be the fastest out of the gate in terms of evolution – drinking beautifully for the next 15+ years.
Winemaking
- Winemaker:
- Kale Anderson
- Alcohol:
- 15%
- Harvested:
- September 5 to October 10, 2014
- Bottled:
- May 5, 2015
- Released:
- March 1, 2017
Proprietary Red is a masterful blend of five Bordeaux varietals, each harvested and vinified separately in more then 50 individual lots. Grape clusters were gravity-fed onto a vibrating table where two screens sifted out materials other than grapes, and we removed by hand any fruit that did not pass visual inspection. After gentle destemming, individual berries were hand-sorted again to ensure that only the best grapes were delivered to the fermenters. The fruit underwent five days of cold maceration and two to six weeks of primary fermentation before gentle basket press. We aged the wine in 85% new Seguin Moreau Icone and Taransaud French Oak barrels for 20 months.
