About the Wine

There is only so much you can expect from a wine, a rockstar founding team, a mindfully made product, and maybe on top of all that some good critical reviews. AXR has all of these, the estate is cut from the same cloth as Alpha Omega, just placed three miles up Highway 29. Winemaker Jean Hoefliger is constantly challenging himself to produce a better product, and critics notice. The Flagship Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from the estate's top vineyard sites. Once the grapes come into the winery they are heavily selected only using the best offerings of the vintage. This is a wine that is opulent now, and will surely impress you over the coming two decades.

AXR takes its name from the AxR rootstock (Aramond x Rupestris) that was so prominent in building the modern California wine industry, AxR#1 eventually succumbed to Phylloxera and most of California wine country was left as a blank canvas. Vintners now had a chance to replant and to rethink the entire structure of the vineyards; attention was paid to the terroir and unique varietals were researched. This was truly a turning point in the wine industry as we know it. 

The AXR dream began with four friends sitting around a table sharing, dreaming, laughing, and occasionally sipping! The room was filled with an intense passion for wine and a good intention to be true to themselves and the history of Napa Valley: this is where AXR was born. By utilizing modern and innovative techniques in the cellar, AXR is able to extract the unique soul of Napa Valley's soils into wines enjoyable now, or many years to come.

Tasting Notes: Red Wine. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep, ruby purple with touches of magenta. The nose showcases opulent dark fruit, tobacco, and chocolate. The palate has a fruity entrance but has a seamless evolution layered over a smooth yet present tannin structure.

Reviews

There are 350 cases of the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Flagship, which comes from a mix of the V Madrone, Sleeping Lady, To Kalon, and Denali vineyards. A cellar selection put together by winemaker Jean Hoefliger, aged 22 months in 80% new French oak, it’s a full-bodied, balanced, elegant 2017 that does everything right, offering loads of blue fruits, tobacco, blood orange, and pine forest-laced aromatics, full-bodied richness and depth, silky tannins, and just sensational balance. It shines for its purity as well as its balance. It will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for 15-20 years or more. ~96 Jeb Dunnuck

A barrel selection, “flagship” cuvee, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Flagship is deep garnet-purple colored, giving up flamboyant creme de cassis, blackberry pie and blueberry preserves notes with hints of wilted rose, stewed tea, baking spices and tilled soil plus a waft of black olives. Full-bodied, rich and expressive, it has a firm backbone of grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and fragrant. ~94+ Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

A refined and focused red with blackberries, chocolate, walnuts and spices. Full-bodied, round and velvety. Opulent. Lots of ripe fruit and juicy character. High tone. Better after 2021. ~94 James Suckling

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