cabernet sauvignon in napa-sonoma?
 

I am about to head over to napa-sonoma for the first time from the big apple. Who makes the best cabernet sauvignon? which is your absolute favorite?<BR>thanks,<BR>mohan

Rodney Strong makes one of the best cabernets. Stags Leap is also a great winery.

You should try the Cabs from the Diamond Mountain district, near Calistoga. Diamond Creek makes a wonderful wine, if you're willing to pay a little more. BTW, 2000 will be a very good vintage.

Hey Mohan, were a member at Silicon Investor? &quot;Money Penny&quot; seems to remember you, if you are he.<BR><BR>On wine, the really hot wineries do not offer tours and the wines are on allotment and have to be ordered direct. These are Harlan Estate and Screaming Eagle. Still at dot.com pricing: $250 per bottle. <BR><BR>I may hear some groans but the big public wineries, Sterling and Beringer, make some really outstanding cabernets and have excellent wines that are available only at the wineries. I find their tours are more edifying than others and both are beautiful properties with gorgeous architecture and gardens. <BR><BR>If I could buy it I'd buy Helen Turley's Zinfandel. No can do however so I'll settle for a great Beringer Reserve Cab. <BR><BR>LilMsFoodie

My favorite is Silver Oak. But you have to be the type of person who loves to almost &quot;chew&quot; the oak in it.<BR><BR>In Sonoma, I love Raffanelli Cabernet and their delightful little family run winery. You have to get on their list to purchase a very limited supply of their Cab or their Zin at the time of their release annually.And if you snooze, you lose.

Mohan, I agree with &quot;Lil..&quot; about enjoying the big winery experience.<BR>In fact, Sterling is the largest land holder in the Diamond Mountain district &amp; they are focusing on refining their Cabernets through extensive replanting at Diamond Mtn Ranch. Harlan is &quot;hot&quot;, but there are so many high end reds around that I believe you can really have a blast checking out some less expensive labels that are super. It's true,<BR>most of the best are by appt only.<BR>I also agree that if you want a tasting ride, be sure to try the best Zinfandels you can find.

I am with you Patrick. In Feb when we were at the Ballastone Inn, one of the other guest brought a magnum of Silver Oak. They were so kind to share it with us. Now, I am not a red wine drinker, but that was out of this world. I could easily get used to that. I ran out and bought a bottle as soon as I got home. Give it a try! Kris

Another vote here for Stag's Leap.

Great story, Ferragamo. Do you happen to have the phone number of those people who travel with the magnum of Silver Oak? I'd like to check out their itinerary and see if I can land somewhere they are staying!!!

Sequia Grove, Stags Leap, Robert Mondavi,Aretsa and Diamond Creek.

They drove their from Florida. Wonderful folks! I shared my Champagne.<BR>Just goes to show that there are alot of kind people out their. Kris