2019 Darioush 'Duel' Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah Napa Valley

Winemaker's Notes: Opening with a flourish of dense black and red fruits, 2019 Duel exhibits generous layers of fruit balanced by savory herbs and delicate spices. Juicy blackberries, fresh currants, morello cherries, and mission fig expand on the palate, mingling with hints of dried violets, licorice, sandalwood, and spiced tobacco. The wine’s tightly wound frame is supported by firm, ripe tannins— reminiscent of toasted hazelnuts and cedar— and finishes with fantastic freshness, vibrancy, and lingering minerality.

Duel is the idyllic marriage of two distinguished varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. This unique blend varies year to year, seeking to harmonize the deep satisfying fruit and earthy minerality of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz’s vibrance, plushness, and exotic spices. Duel is a wine with style, soul, and substance. A symbol of harmony and seasonal transition during the Persian New Year, NowRuz, the representation of two powerful and opposing forces as they embrace as one on the vernal equinox each spring. Nature’s grace and brute are in accord with one another, an apt metaphor for the duality expressed here between these two distinguished varietals.