OVID Napa Valley
Tasting Note
The 2012 vintage was prosperous and mild. On our little piece of Pritchard Hill, budbreak began in the second week of April – roughly a week early. Long and temperate days meted out the growing season to follow, making it a vintage with a sense of luxury. There was time to study the vineyard, time to consider each small and meaningful farming decision, and time to focus on each section individually to elicit the best fruit, row by row, vine by vine. Harvest was also expansive, lasting more than three weeks, from the third week of September to mid-October.
The resulting 2012 OVID blend evokes this generous vintage with layer upon layer of rich flavors. Vibrant crimson and ruby in color, there are fresh notes of dark cherry, forest floor and boysenberry, bolstered by mulberry, candied violets and blueberry. Resonate and focused, lush and powerful, this gleaming wine is delicious now and will gain expressiveness and depth for years to come.
Vintage Data
- Appellation:
Napa Valley - Soil Type:
Hambright soil series - Harvest Dates:
October 19-October 23 - pH Level:
3.84 - Alcohol:
14.8% - Aging:
21 months
Antonio Galloni
The 2012 OVID belongs to a group of vintages that includes 2007 and 2009 where the main characteristic is bold, racy fruit. A host of red cherry, pomegranate, smoke, licorice and tobacco wrap around the palate. Juicy, racy and flamboyant to the core, the 2012 needs a few years to lose some baby fat and develop aromatic complexity, but it is impressive. The 2012 is distinctly red-toned and floral in character, as so many wines are in this vintage.
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Proprietary Red is a 625-case cuvée made from 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot. The wine displays blueberry and blackberry fruit, some violets, a hints of charcoal embers and graphite. It is pure, full-bodied, ripe and already dramatic and ostentatious.
Wine Spectator
A dense, powerful expression of high-extract Cabernet, this unfolds with tiers of gravelly earth, plum, cherry, cedar and tobacco leaf. Most impressive on the finish, where the flavors fan out and gain depth. Very tight and compact now. Best to cellar. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot.