Former basketball star Yao Ming turned to wine with the release of his first vintage in 2009. He is well known in China and America and his
winery significantly crosses the bridge between the two countries. “Chinese people knew French wines first,” Yao says. “They learned that French wines had a reputation for being the best in the world. My goal was to help introduce Chinese wine drinkers to Napa Valley. There is still room for more education on the quality of Napa Valley wine.” To that end his 2017 cabernet, Rutherford, handles this bridge quite nicely. This wine offers an ideal balance between fruit, oak, acidity and tannin. The Rutherford fruit is exactly what you’d expect - black cherry, black berry, boysenberry and huckleberry, along with back notes of sage, vanilla, red raspberry, and mocha powder. The wine was aged 22 months in all-new French oak. This is a lovely, comprehensive wine.
112 cases.
ORIGIN: Rutherford, Napa Valley
ALCOHOL: 15.2%
PRICE: $120 / 750 ml
SCORE: 92 POINTS
