Cardano Estate Black Fruit Cabernet Sauvignon Atlas Peak 2019

Four years since its inception and Cardano is at it again with another wine, the 2019 Black Fruit Cabernet Sauvignon. Modeled after Ed Snider’s famed CULT Cabernet with Beau Vigne, Black Fruit aims to please a wide range of wine drinkers.

Cardano Estate showcases the Snider family’s four-and-a-half-acre vineyard in Atlas Peak.  Known for its cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers, Atlas Peak is home to some of Napa Valley's highest-elevation vineyard sites with unparalleled quality around every corner. At an altitude of 1,200 feet, the fruit can mature evenly thanks to the perfect combination of morning sunlight and cool afternoon breeze with temperatures regularly ten degrees cooler than the valley floor. Shallow, rocky, and well-drained soils cover the steep slopes forcing vines to produce smaller, more concentrated berries which leads to epically flavored wines. It is here that second-generation vintner, Ed Lewis Snider, founded Cardano Estate. Going back over 100 years, Ed's family has a deep-rooted history of winemaking in the Napa Valley. His grandfather, Martin Garzoli, moved to Napa from Cardano Al Campo, Italy in 1913 to work as a winemaker and farmer. With over 20 years of winemaking experience himself, Ed has built his reputation on a plethora of highly rated and luxuriously priced Cabernets under his Beau Vigne label, including a perfect score in 2013 that just so happened to be the 100-year anniversary of his grandfather's voyage to America to make wine.

After selling the Beau Vigne label in 2018, Ed set out on a new mission with his Atlas Peak property: make great wines more accessible to a broader spectrum of wine enthusiasts without sacrificing the standard of excellence that defines him. To bring this incredible value to the table, Ed has relied on his decades of experience and multitude of connections in the Napa Valley. Sourcing from select vineyards across the valley as well as his Atlas Peak estate, Ed and his son, third-generation vintner Nicholas Snider, have crafted an outstanding value Cabernet with their 2019 Cardano Estate Black Fruit.

Utilizing the same recipe for the coveted CULT Cabernet, Ed & Nicholas blended this majority Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Cabernet Franc.  The 2019 Black Fruit hits all the points of a mountain Cabernet with brooding, dark fruits and savory low notes of tobacco leaves and truffle.  Its full-bodied richness is supported by a well-integrated structure of fine tannins.  Only 212 cases of what Ed likes to call their “flagship of the future”.  Cardano Estate are newcomers to watch on the Napa Cabernet scene and we are pleased to share this wine with our Under the Radar club members!