Darioush house spotlight
Localish: proprietor Darioush Khaledi on Persian hospitality, Persepolis, and the Napa estate he built on the Silverado Trail.
The market on this bottle
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2023 Darioush Legacy Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, USA
Itzel De Santiago's inaugural Darioush Legacy Cabernet, James Suckling 94, a more vibrant Napa bottle you can actually open at forty-nine dollars.
The 2023 Darioush Legacy is 86 percent Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabernet Franc and Merlot, 22 months in 60 percent new French oak, James Suckling 94, now $49.
The Darioush you can drink without the Signature ticket
Legacy is the house's more open Napa Cabernet: plum, raspberry, red licorice, then bay leaf and milk chocolate. Darioush Khaledi built Persepolis on the Silverado Trail. This inaugural 2023 is 86 percent Cabernet, 22 months in French oak, approachable now and serious enough to hold.
The house
Darioush Khaledi built a Persepolis on the Silverado Trail. Legacy draws from that heritage with a brighter, more approachable Napa Cabernet.
The wine
86 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 9 percent Cabernet Franc, 5 percent Merlot. 22 months in 60 percent new and 40 percent neutral French oak. Inaugural 2023.
The scores
James Suckling 94. Black currant, blackberry, cassis, violet, graphite, dark chocolate. Full, fine tannin. Drink or hold.
The drinker
Ribeye or rack of lamb. Serve near 64 F. Open now, or hold. Same house as Signature, a bottle meant for the table.
Plum, raspberry, and a milk-chocolate line
The inaugural 2023 opens with plum, raspberry, and red licorice. Ripe fruit at the core, then bay leaf, green tea, cinnamon stick, and a subtle coating of milk chocolate. James Suckling called it deep and expressive, with black currant, blackberry, cassis, violet, graphite, and dark chocolate, fine tannins, and balanced acidity. Drink or hold.
A vibrant, balanced Napa year. The first Legacy vintage is built to drink with energy now, and to hold.
Plum, raspberry, red licorice, bay leaf, green tea, cinnamon, milk chocolate.
Full, fine tannin, 22 months in 60% new French oak, 86% Cabernet.
Long, polished. Serve near 64 F. A short decant if you want.
Stainless ferment, then twenty-two months in French oak
The Darioush fact sheet is blunt: meticulous vineyard work, then almost nothing in the cellar. Clusters are hand-harvested and destemmed, then fermented in stainless steel. The 2023 Legacy lives 22 months in 60 percent new and 40 percent neutral French oak. Barrel lots were racked at least once before bottling. That is how Itzel De Santiago keeps the fruit lifted and the texture refined.
The blend is 86 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 9 percent Cabernet Franc, 5 percent Merlot. Cabernet Franc and Merlot keep the core of ripe fruit from turning blunt. New oak is a frame, not a coat.
Serve near 64 F. A short decant if you want. Drink now or hold.
From Shiraz to the Silverado Trail
Khaledi watched his father make wine in Iran. Then he built Persepolis in Napa.
Darioush Khaledi emigrated from Iran in 1976, built a grocery business, then bought southern Napa land in 1997.
The visitor center copies Persepolis, the palace of Darius the Great near Shiraz. Vineyard blocks are named for family. Hospitality is the house rule.
Signature Cabernet and Darius II made the name. Legacy is the more vibrant Cabernet from that same estate, the inaugural 2023 bottled by Itzel De Santiago.
Ribeye on the board, lamb on the bone
Ripe Napa Cabernet wants char, fat, and rosemary, not a light bird.
Two plates. One hard-seared ribeye. One rack of lamb. Both can take plum, bay leaf, and milk chocolate.
Serve near 64 F. A short decant if you want.
Pan-seared ribeye
Kenji's hard sear, rosy center, coarse salt. A Napa table without the restaurant markup.
Why it works: Char and fat meet ripe red fruit and milk chocolate while Cabernet tannin cuts the crust.
View Recipe for The Food Lab's Complete Guide to Pan-Seared Steaks (opens in a new tab)
Rosemary garlic rack of lamb
Nagi's rosemary garlic marinade, roasted until the rib is pink.
Why it works: Rosemary and lamb fat echo bay leaf and cinnamon in the 2023.
View Recipe for Rosemary Garlic Marinated Rack of Lamb (opens in a new tab)Open the inaugural Legacy tonight
You already know the house. Persepolis on the Silverado Trail. This is the 2023 Legacy, James Suckling 94, forty-nine dollars.
Put it in the cart. Drink it this week, or lay a few down. Either way, this is the bottle that closes the proof.
