92.5 Points- Cellar Tracker Average
93 Insider Points
This is a complex Cab with plum, fresh tobacco and vanilla on the nose. The palate shows a full body with grippy tannins and flavors of ripe blackberry, marionberry, eucalyptus, toasted cedar, and mocha coffee. It flows into a long savory finish. 93 Points - JZ Nov '18
*92.5pts - Cellar Tracker Average
·Fritz H. Rosenbaum, a stained-glass merchant and San Francisco resident, built the manor house that is now St. Clement in 1878. The landmark building is a gorgeous example of the Gothic/Victorian style--remained a private residence until 1976 when it was transformed into a winery.
·Built on a legacy of highly respected wines produced in small quantities, St. Clement maintains long-term relationships with some of the best winegrowers in the Napa Valley.
·James Suckling writes: “America’s premier wine producing region made stunning wines in 2013, particularly cabernet sauvignon-based reds. The best show terrific form and tension, giving them an impressive freshness to their richness and power. This character illustrates a new classicism for the great wines of the region.”
·The Oliver family’s Star Vineyard sits on the western side of the Rutherford Bench and is known to produce long-lived, concentrated Cabernets showing the region’s renowned “Rutherford Dust” character.
Already legendary up and down the Napa Valley, the 95-point 2013 vintage produced superb Cabernet Sauvignon. Witness this single-vineyard example, grown on some of the most coveted valley floor terroir and produced by our old friends at the venerable St. Clement winery.
Sustainable farmed fruit was picked at peak ripeness after a growing season so flawless that has even the most pessimistic of vintners expected awesome results in the bottle. This 2013 represents the vintage to a tee, with both classic Bordeaux Cab cuttings and local heritage clones evolving into a dark-cherry fruited red complemented by notes of tobacco and loamy earth and ending with a powerful tannic grip that goes on and on. All this for a moderately priced red that ranks right up there with the best cult Cabs of 2013.
This has been Napa's "star" vineyard for almost wo decades. Deemed a top pick on James Laube's “fantasy list of all-star Cabernets" (all the way back in 2000), today, these Cabs deliver major power and cache.
This Cabernet Sauvignon gives a classic example of Napa Valley, combining valley floor terroir and mountain fruit power. The grapes for St. Clement's Cabernet Sauvignon span several sub-appellations in Napa Valley, including vineyards in Rutherford, St. Helena, Mt. Veeder, Coombsville and Diamond Mountain.
From the heart of the Napa Valley, this single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from the Star Vineyard gives a classic example of valley floor terroir and the “Rutherford dust.” Since 1987, the Oliver family has been growing grapes at Star Vineyard on the western side of the Rutherford Bench and the vineyard contains carefully selected classic Bordeaux clones as well as local heritage Cabernet clones that are sustainably farmed in gravelly bale loam soils.
From the winery:
The St. Clement house was built in 1878 by Fritz Rosenbaum, an affluent manufacturer and importer of fine mirrors and glass who furnished the opulent homes of San Francisco's "Gilded Age". The Rosenbaums made Riesling and Zinfandel in the cellar underneath their house. Over the years the property was owned by a number of colorful characters, most of whom made wine underneath the house. The St. Clement moniker was born in 1976 when William Casey, a local ophthalmologist, bought the house and built a 10,000 case stone winery behind it. The St. Clement name was a tribute to Casey's ancestors, who helped found the state of Maryland. The cross that is part of the St. Clement logo can be found on the Maryland state flag.
Fantastic with Grilled Flat Iron Steak with Blue Cheese-Chive Butter, Grilled New York Strip Steak with Porcini Butter and Braised Short Ribs with Ravioli.
