95pts Decanter

Dry-farmed Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc grapes are aged 20 months in mostly neutral French oak barrels. Unfined and unfiltered. A rather dark, meaty, and savoury expression from this iconic Rutherford Estate helmed by founder and proprietor John Williams. Opaque ruby in colour shows black olive, dusty earth, and graphite. Medium-bodied and intensely perfumed on the palate, wit builds in elegance, almost defying its rather muscular aromatic profile. Fresh, balanced, quite complex, and quite cellar-worthy.

93pts Wine Enthusiast

One of the founding practitioners of organic and dry farming in Napa Valley, Frog's Leap offers a classic approach to Cabernet Sauvignon. Along with flavors of black currant and blackberry, this wine offers lingering spices, lightly tactile tannins and mouthwatering acidity. The wine is both pleasing and perfect for a range of foods from savory mushrooms and risotto, to grass fed beef.

91pts James Suckling

Well-rounded, fruit-driven and chalky. The nose expresses aromas of blackberries, sweet cherries and earth. It’s medium- to full-bodied with fine tannins. Mellow with a fruity and chewy finish. Try after 2025.

90pts Jeb Dunnuck

Ripe red and black fruits, darker chocolate, and some smoky tobacco notes all emerge from the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown, a nicely balanced, elegant, impressive Cabernet Sauvignon from this team that has ripe tannins and outstanding length.

Tasting Notes

A wine with all the hallmarks of the legendary Cabernets of Rutherford: deep, cassis-currant aromas, the classic notes of Rutherford Dust, earthen flavors of cedar and black olive, and a velvety, plush mouthfeel.

Winemaker Notes

To be sure, yields were low—50% of normal—but they were also wonderfully
reflective of the terroir of this drought year. We wish we had more of the wine to go around, but I am extremely excited about the future for this wine, which I intend to come back to with pleasure for the rest of my life.

Rich black fruit combines with a seriously savory streak of tobacco, dust, graphite and black olive, but this is no clunky NapaCab™. Instead, our signature balance and restraint shine through these powerful flavors, giving the wine tremendous freshness and lift, amplified by our usual inclusion of Cabernet Franc. That balancing act—which is the specific virtue of any “old school” Rutherford Cabernet—makes this wine incredibly exciting now and for many, many years to come.

About the Wine

For decades, it has been our goal to produce a Rutherford AVA, estate-grown
Cabernet Sauvignon. Inspired by the early Cabernets of Inglenook and BV, we’ve
spent the past 30 years finding, farming, and obtaining highly sought-after land in
Rutherford—with particular attention to the Rutherford bench—to perfect our craft.
Years of effort with organic viticulture, dry farming and minimal cellar intervention
yield a wine that could not be produced outside of the 10 square miles that define its
appellation. 

Winery Notes

Frog's Leap is a family-owned winery dedicated to sustainable principles and committed to producing wines with balance, restraint and respect for terroir. Frog's Leap makes its home amongst 200 acres of vineyards in Rutherford at the historic ‘Red Barn’. Founded by John Williams in 1981, Frog’s Leap continues to be family-owned and operated. As the owner and winemaker, John has made every vintage for over four decades. 

Now in its fourth decade of production, Winemakers John and Rory Williams hand-craft Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Merlot, and an Estate-Grown Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon. Using the best of Napa Valley's organically grown, dry- farmed grapes and the most traditional winemaking techniques, Frog's Leap strives to produce wines that deeply reflect the soils and climate from which they emanate. Thoughtfully shepherding both natural and earned resources, Frog’s Leap consistently returns more than it takes from the environment.

Sustainable

Organic

Blend: 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc