This is darkly colored and dense in the glass. The nose offers complex and balanced aromas of blackberry, cherry, dark chocolate, and sweet but not overpowering wood and spice. The palate repeats the aromas with well integrated black fruits and cocoa/mocha notes. It’s texturally velvety with a full mouthfeel and forward fruit, well made and easy to drink. Medium plus body with a longer finish.

WINE INFORMATION

The Rutherford Wine Company has farmed sustainably for three generations, increasing the scale and variety of their practices over time. They have, for example, an in-house refrigeration system using nearly 5000 solar panels generating one million watts of electricity. They use cover crops extensively in the vineyards and maintain fallow land for animal corridors. They reclaim water (winemaking uses quite a lot). They use recycled and recyclable glass, closures, and labels. The Predator is one of 10 brands made by family winery Rutherford Hill, headquartered in Napa. The brand consists of an old-vines Zinfandel, the Six-Spot Red Blend, this Cabernet and the new addition, a Sauvignon Blanc. All the fruit is sustainably grown in Lodi, perfectly sited between the Sierra Foothills and the San Francisco Bay Delta. The wines are based on the idea of “natural predation,” using birds, ladybugs, and predator mites to control aphids and other destructive insects in the vineyards.

Duck, Hearty stew, Lamb, Pizza, Red Meat, Roasted Root Vegetables, Sausage, Slow-smoked Barbeque/BBQ Sauce