One of Napa’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines in the $50 range is Vineyard 29's 2007 Cru. Produced by owners Chuck and Ann McMinn and their consulting winemaker, Philippe Melka, there are 5,000 cases of this blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The grapes are all purchased, and the wine is made at their state-of-the-art facility just off Highway 29 north of St. Helena. This beautiful wine exhibits a dense ruby/purple color as well as pure black currant fruit aromas intermixed with notions of licorice, charcoal, subtle smoke, and high class unsmoked cigar tobacco. It is an elegant, stunningly concentrated, seductive, lush wine that should age nicely for a decade or more. Robert Parker 92 The impressive talents of viticulturalist David Abreu and winemaker/consultant Philippe Melka have turned Vineyard 29, owned by Chuck and Anne McMinn, into a bright new star of Napa. There are essentially two levels of wine here, the estate wines, which come from the Aida Vineyard and Vineyard 29, and of course their negociant wines, which are represented by the 3,000 or so cases of their Napa Cabernet Sauvignon called Cru.Robert Parker 92
