2021 Darioush - Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Caravan (750ml)

Darioush Winery was founded in 1997 by Darioush Khaledi and his wife, Shahpar, Iranian immigrants who built a successful grocery business in Southern California before pursuing a lifelong dream of making wine. Khaledi, who grew up in Shiraz watching his father make wine at home, designed the estate's striking visitor center after the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis, complete with Achaemenid-style stone columns. Since 2013, renowned consulting winemaker Michel Rolland has guided the cellar, while the family farms roughly 120 acres spread across Mount Veeder, Oak Knoll, Coombsville, and the southern Napa Valley floor.

Caravan serves as a more approachable counterpart to Darioush's flagship Signature wines, built around a Left Bank Bordeaux-inspired blend anchored by Cabernet Sauvignon with supporting portions of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec sourced from the estate's cooler sites. The 2021 vintage aged roughly twenty-two months in French oak, a majority of it new, allowing the wine to develop richness and polish while still remaining approachable earlier than the estate's top-tier bottlings.

The wine opens with aromas of juicy Damson plum, fig, and vibrant cherry, moving into flavors of red licorice, raspberry compote, baker's chocolate, and green tea. The texture is plush and the finish carries a lingering touch of spice. Try it with Persian-spiced lamb kebabs, pomegranate-glazed chicken, or a rich dark chocolate dessert.