Cardinale Estate

A brilliant wine from winemaker Chris Carpenter and the Kendall-Jackson family, this blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Merlot, mostly coming from mountain vineyards owned by the Jackson family, is fabulous.

The 2013 Cardinale Proprietary Red Wine is dense purple-colored, a big, sweet kiss of crème de cassis as well as licorice, blackberry and espresso are all present in this full-bodied, rather sublime and intense Cabernet Sauvignon that should drink well for 25 or more years. This was aged in about 91% new French oak for 18-20 months prior to bottling. It is certainly one of the finest Cardinales I have tasted in my experience.
Robert M. Parker, Jr. - The Wine Advocate, Oct 2015

Jess Jackson’s & Christopher Carpenter’s acclaimed viticultural venture, Cardinale makes wine from a selection of diverse Napa Valley regions, including Veeder Peak, Keyes Vineyard on Howell Mountain, Spring Mountain, Diamond Mountain, the To-Kalon Vineyard in Oakville and the Andrew Geoffery Vineyard. All are situated in the Mayacamas and Vaca mountain ranges surrounding the Napa Valley, with the exception of To-Kalon, the most highly regarded of the valley floor vineyards near Oakville.

Cardinale creates a single wine from each vintage. The wine is a limited production Cabernet Sauvignon based blend. Made from select lots of low-yielding vines, pressing is done in traditional basket presses, with the young wine placed into mostly new, tightly grained, French Chateau styled oak barrels for extensive aging.

2012 was a textbook vintage in Napa. Above average warmth and sunshine, but with no major heat spikes to damage the crop. September and October saw some fine weather allowing the Cabernets to ripen perfectly on the vine with little disease pressure. Classically Californian in style, these are rich, concentrated wines that will reward extended cellaring, all in all, a great vintage.

Cardinale and Lokoya, two of the top names in California are part of the Artisan & Estates portfolio of Jackson Family Wines, a collection of independently run premium wineries, each owned by the late Jess Jackson and his wife, Barbara Banke. Their vision is to make luxury wines from some of the great wine growing regions of the world.

In California, over 95% of Jackson Family’s Wine’s vineyards are located on mountains, ridges, hillsides and ‘benches’ where the vine has to struggle to survive because of the poor soils and the harsher conditions. This struggle shows in the quality of the final wines produced. Higher elevation and proximity to the ocean both play crucial roles in moderating temperatures, resulting in greater flavour, concentration and balance in the wines. All of the wines of both Lokoya and Cardinale are made by the talented Chris Carpenter.

Chris’s vision is to keep the properties separate, with Lokoya expressing the details of each of the cool Mountain sites, whereas Cardinale is viewed as a symphony of all the constituent parts.