The 2013 Claret is a very pretty, soft, Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine to drink now and over the next few years. Sweet red berry, tobacco, spice and anise are some of the signatures. This is an especially approachable Napa Valley Bordeaux blend long on class. There aren't too many values in Napa Valley these days. This is one of them. 

Supple and medium rich, this blend is long on the palate, with ripe fruit character (cassis, blackberry, plum, black olive) and overtones of toast, cedar, and oak. Lightly tannic finish. Excellent; can be aged further. [2016-2021]

Medium ruby; attractive, spicy, complex, cherry and blackberry fruit aroma with hints of tobacco, sage, and green olive; medium-full to full body; forward, rich, textured, black cherry and dark berry fruit flavors; medium-full to full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Approachable now though deserving a few more years of bottle aging. Very highly recommended.

Having spent only 12 months in barrel, this vintage of the producer’s Claret is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon with 34% Merlot, 4% Malbec, 3% Syrah, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. It opens in exotic floral and spice, with a juicy midpalate around soft, rounded tannins and smoothly integrated oak. It provides extraordinary value for the quality.

Dark red cherries, plums, smoke and licorice jump from the glass in the 2013 Claret. A bit darker and richer than normal in this vintage, the 2013 Claret is shaping up to be an overachiever. I tasted the 2013 from tank just prior to bottling. In 2013, the Cabernet Sauvignon is down to about 55% of the blend, while Merlot is higher than normal, a decision that I imagine was made to give the wine its customary early appeal in a vintage in which Bordeaux-styled wines are quite imposing.