Karo-Kann Private Reserve Cabernet 2015

Karo-Kann Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 | Raw Mountain Power

Karo-Kann Private Reserve Cabernet 2015 shows a deep crimson-purple color at the core while giving way to a ruby rim. Lavish black plum, crème de cassis, and warm, upturned soil aromas give way to a plush and focused wine.  In addition, black cherries, black currants all unfolding in layers of plums, graphite, tobacco.  Finally, new-wood cedar tinged with Madagascar vanilla and espresso notes on the finish. Most of all, buttressing firm tannins with excellent acidity and drinking beautifully out the gate.  While the 2014s continue to slumber and will continue to shine for another 10-12 years.

More ridiculously great Red Blends

So the Karo-Kann Private Reserve Cabernet 2015 is a defining Cabernet Sauvignon that should cost double, or even triple its price.  First of all plush and focused, with black cherry, black currants, plums, Madagascar vanilla, and baking spices.  While vividly translating Napa’s exceptional 2015 vintage into the glass. At $29.99 per bottle, the Karo-Kann Private Reserve Cabernet 2015 is already a benchmark for the vintage.  And has a clear lead out the gate as our candidate for best value Cabernet of the year.

Atlas Peak + Benchland Lucsciouness = Private Reserve

Thanks to our deep connections throughout Napa, we were able to secure two prized lots of hand-picked Cabernet. The first being a two-barrel selection of rugged, mountain-grown Atlas Peak Cabernet.  While the second, an eight-barrel lot of plush, benchland Cab, grown by one of the Valley’s elite wineries. These two lots were deftly blended by Britt Nichols, marrying raw mountain power with benchland lusciousness—a “Private Reserve” that easily goes shoulder-to-shoulder with Napa Cabernets two and three times the price.

Winemaker Britt Nichols

One look at Britt’s resume and it’s easy to understand why in an outstanding vintage, she can do no wrong—just look at where the young enologist developed her deft touch with Cabernet Sauvignon. After a stint at Jordan Winery, Nichols landed one of the most sought-after positions in the valley, working under Nicolas Morlet at Peter Michael, assisting in the making of the 2010 “Les Pavots.” A year later, Britt was recruited by Philippe Melka, the Bordeaux émigré who Robert Parker named “one of the nine most influential winemaker consultants in the world.”

When winemaker Britt Nichols—the protege of Nicolas Morlet and Philippe Melka—dropped off the first bottles of Karo-Kann from the 2015 vintage, she reminded us that only the very best lots of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon are designated “Private Reserve.  It didn’t take long to understand why.