94pts Vinous

The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Blueprint is a fabulous entry-level offering from Robin Lail. Dark, ample and seductive, the 2023 delivers on all fronts. Blackberry, graphite, dried herbs, leather and chocolate are all dialed up. Blueprint is a blend from some of the top sites in Napa Valley. It's one of the very best Napa Valley Cabernets in its price range. The 2023 is perhaps the best vintage of this bottling ever.

93pts Wine Advocate

Lail's 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Blueprint—a blend of fruit from eight sites and aged in 50% to 60% new French oak—delivers an experience that's consistent with what readers have come to expect. It's inky in hue and emphasizes dark fruit, like black cherries and cassis, while remaining medium- to full-bodied yet silky, with fine-grained tannins and a balanced, elegant, softly dusty finish. It's a solid value, even more so if you find it discounted.

92pts Jeb Dunnuck

Deep purple and ruby-hued, the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Blueprint is sourced from a broad mix of sites across the valley, including Calistoga, Coombsville, Howell Mountain, Oakville, Rutherford, Stags Leap District, and Yountville. Based on 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petit Verdot and aged 17 months in 65% new French oak, it offers deep blackcurrants, plums, chocolate, woodsmoke, and black cherry notes. It's medium to full-bodied, with spicy oak, a round, layered mouthfeel, and outstanding length. Drink 2025-2035.

Winemaker Notes

From the glorious 2023 vintage, this Blueprint Cabernet Sauvignon is deep purple-red, showing captivating aromas of sandalwood, ripe plum, coffee bean and cocoa. Flavors are manifold, including black raspberry and cherry, dark chocolate, and huckleberry. Creamy, full-bodied, supple, bright and juicy at its core, it finishes long, elegant, fine and richly-layered. This is as good as Blueprint Cabernet Sauvignon gets.

About the Wine

In February 2019, Robin Lail was made the U.S. Representative to the Porto Protocol, a global initiative asking companies to demonstrate their leadership on climate action and share best practices. Our Blueprint wines celebrate these pioneers and architects of innovation for putting the health of our planet ahead of quarterly reports and the bottom line. At Lail Vineyards we invite you to do the same. Make a commitment. Inspire your neighbor.

Winery Notes

Robin Daniel Lail’s heritage began in 1879 with the founding of Inglenook Vineyards by her great -granduncle, the iconic Captain Gustave Niebaum. By the early 1890s, this brilliant man’s obsession for achieving the pinnacle of excellence earned Inglenook wines the status of being considered by many as the finest produced in the country.

The determination to achieve excellence was carried forward through the decades following Niebaum’s death in 1908, with a crescendo in the thirty years following the repeal of Prohibition under the meticulous, passionate stewardship of John Daniel, Jr., Robin’s father. The collection of Cabernets coming from his years of ownership is still celebrated today as some of the finest red wines on earth.

Although Inglenook was sold in 1964, the passion for winemaking did not fade. Robin inherited her father’s respect for tradition. After working as the personal assistant to her mentor, Robert Mondavi, for five years, she left in 1982 to co-found Dominus Estate with Christian Moueix. The following year she co-founded Merryvale Vineyards with Bill Harlan, serving as president for a decade, before finally launching on her eponymous venture, Lail Vineyards, with her two daughters in 1995. Today her family honors his legacy with their relentless pursuit to produce wines second to none.

Blend: 97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot