1996 Pahlmeyer, Proprietary Red, Napa Valley, Magnum (1.5L)

RP95 "The 1996 Proprietary Red (a blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon with the balance Malbec, Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc) is not a very weighty (14.3% alcohol) offering. It has become more delineated with a year of bottle age, offering up classic creme de cassis, smoked meat, coffee, prune, and toasty new oak scents. Concentrated, with fabulously high extract, sweet tannin, and full body, this wine has an elegant feel on the palate, but is still a blockbuster." RP Dec 1999

Robert Parker writes, "With each new vintage I am blown away by Pahlmeyer's wines. Lest anyone forget, the genius of consulting winemaker Helen Turley is behind these wines. I kept retasting them, thinking I was being too generous, but they justly deserve their lofty numerical ratings. They are as exciting as anything a wine lover could taste." Published: Dec 18, 1997