Cardinale creates a single wine from each vintage. The wine is a limited production Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend made from distinct and diverse mountain and bench vineyards situated in the Mayacamas and Vaca mountain ranges surrounding the Napa Valley. Made from select lots of low-yielding vines, Cardinale is in essence, many wines merged into one. The flavor characteristics establish distinctive "footprints" of individual flavor components that lend complexity to the blend. In the bottle, Cardinale is classy, elegant and refined.

During veraison, green clusters of grapes are removed from the vine, allowing the fruit with the most potential to mature. After veraison, a second thinning of remaining clusters further reduces yield, ensuring only the ripest and most flavorful grapes are considered for Cardinale.

Once in the winery, the grape clusters are sorted by hand and fermented in open top fermentors that extract the subtleties of flavor from the skins. Pressing is done in traditional basket presses, with the young wine placed into 100% new, tightly grained, French Chateau styled oak barrels for extensive aging.