- About This Wine
- Ratings & Reviews
- Tasting Notes
About This Wine
Ratings & Reviews
Tasting Notes
ABOUT THIS WINE
REVIEWS
WINEMAKER NOTES
The 2021 Robert Craig Affinity Cabernet Sauvignon is a dazzling expression of high-elevation Napa Valley fruit, delivering both the finesse and force that define the estate’s winemaking ethos. With its origins shifting away from the La Londe Vineyard in Coombsville, this vintage pivots toward the rugged, mountainous terrains of Howell Mountain and Mount Veeder—two of Napa’s most storied AVAs. Complemented by fruit from Pope Valley and long-trusted growers throughout the region, the result is a powerfully structured, yet remarkably graceful Cabernet blend that overdelivers at its price point.
In the glass, the wine pours an opaque purple-black, exuding aromas of crushed blackberries, warm cassis, and graphite-laced minerality. There’s a lift of dried violets and mountain herbs that signal its hillside pedigree, followed by subtle inflections of dark chocolate and toasted spice from a restrained use of new French oak. The 2021 vintage, characterized by tiny, concentrated clusters at elevation, lends tremendous depth and tannic integrity to the blend. This is a wine built for longevity, with the tannin grip and acid balance to cellar gracefully for a decade or more, yet it retains the silken approachability that makes it a joy to uncork in its youth.
On the palate, Affinity 2021 is layered and expansive. The entry is plush with notes of ripe blueberry and black cherry compote, followed by a core of dense blackcurrant and crushed rock. A cooling thread of mountain sage and bay leaf lends complexity, while finely grained tannins create a framework that is both commanding and polished. The wine’s finish is long, persistent, and mineral-laced, echoing with the crushed granite and volcanic soils from which it was born.
Estate fruit from Winery Estate Vineyard, Candlestick Ridge, Amentet, and Temple Vineyards provides the backbone here—offering a mosaic of mountain terroir that captures the soul of Napa’s elevated frontier. The transition from valley floor to mountain source material represents not a loss, but an elevation—both literally and figuratively—in complexity, ageability, and overall precision.
Savvy collectors and Cabernet enthusiasts take note: the 2021 Affinity Cabernet Sauvignon from Robert Craig is a cellar-worthy gem that delivers first-growth quality at a fraction of the cost. With its sculpted fruit, tension, and poise, it stands as one of Napa Valley’s most compelling values in the world of ageworthy reds.
Blend: 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 5% Merlot, 3% Malbec, & 2% Cabernet Franc
Alcohol: 14.8%
In the glass, the wine pours an opaque purple-black, exuding aromas of crushed blackberries, warm cassis, and graphite-laced minerality. There’s a lift of dried violets and mountain herbs that signal its hillside pedigree, followed by subtle inflections of dark chocolate and toasted spice from a restrained use of new French oak. The 2021 vintage, characterized by tiny, concentrated clusters at elevation, lends tremendous depth and tannic integrity to the blend. This is a wine built for longevity, with the tannin grip and acid balance to cellar gracefully for a decade or more, yet it retains the silken approachability that makes it a joy to uncork in its youth.
On the palate, Affinity 2021 is layered and expansive. The entry is plush with notes of ripe blueberry and black cherry compote, followed by a core of dense blackcurrant and crushed rock. A cooling thread of mountain sage and bay leaf lends complexity, while finely grained tannins create a framework that is both commanding and polished. The wine’s finish is long, persistent, and mineral-laced, echoing with the crushed granite and volcanic soils from which it was born.
Estate fruit from Winery Estate Vineyard, Candlestick Ridge, Amentet, and Temple Vineyards provides the backbone here—offering a mosaic of mountain terroir that captures the soul of Napa’s elevated frontier. The transition from valley floor to mountain source material represents not a loss, but an elevation—both literally and figuratively—in complexity, ageability, and overall precision.
Savvy collectors and Cabernet enthusiasts take note: the 2021 Affinity Cabernet Sauvignon from Robert Craig is a cellar-worthy gem that delivers first-growth quality at a fraction of the cost. With its sculpted fruit, tension, and poise, it stands as one of Napa Valley’s most compelling values in the world of ageworthy reds.
Blend: 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 5% Merlot, 3% Malbec, & 2% Cabernet Franc
Alcohol: 14.8%
92 POINTS - "The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Affinity is mostly Howell Mountain fruit in this vintage, which elevates its quality but also makes it more difficult to enjoy young. Dark fruit, lavender, spice, menthol and licorice power through this deep, forbidding wine. This big, brooding Cabernet is built for cellaring. Give it plenty of time in decanter before enjoying. " - Vinous
The mineral, graphite and black thorny-vine fruits are all on full display in this mountain sourced wine. The tiny clusters that proliferated in 2021 at high elevations in the Napa Valley provide strength and structure in this deeply colored Bordeaux blend. A more judicious use of new French Oak helps the dark fruit to pour from the glass and extend on the palate.