" We don't sell the wine without touching the vine "
Chappellet Pritchard Hill Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
No longer available.
| Country: | United States |
| Regions: | California California (Napa) |
| Winery: | Chappellet |
| Grape Type: | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Vintage: | 2021 |
| Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
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Chappellet Pritchard Hill Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 94% Cabernet Sauvignon & 6% Petit Verdot.
Chappellet's Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon has been, since the beginning of their winemaking career, the most sought after wine of their portfolio. The wine is truly a love letter to the winegrowing potential of Pritchard Hill. The wine was inspired by Bordeaux, and like most left bank Bordeaux, the wine is a blend of predominately Cabernet Sauvignon with remaining amounts other classic Bordeaux blend varieties. The vines grow upon rocky, mountainside vineyards. After harvest and fermentation, the wine was aged for 22 months in 100% new French oak barrels.
Review:
A terrific effort from a challenging vintage, Chappellet's 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill—94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot—boasts expressive scents of cassis, blackberries, vanilla and caramel. It's full-bodied, supple, generous, deep and round, expansive on the palate and framed by soft, fully ripe tannins and hints of mocha on the lingering, velvety finish. Showy, impressive and delicious, it should drink well for a couple of decades.
-Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 98 Points
Chappellet Pritchard Hill Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from Cabernet Sauvignon.
Chappellet's Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon has been, since the beginning of their winemaking career, the most sought after wine of their portfolio. The wine is truly a love letter to the winegrowing potential of Pritchard Hill. The wine was inspired by Bordeaux, and like most left bank Bordeaux, the wine is a blend of predominately Cabernet Sauvignon with remaining amounts other classic Bordeaux blend varieties. The vines grow upon rocky, mountainside vineyards. After harvest and fermentation, the wine was aged for 22 months in 100% new French oak barrels.
Chappellet planted on Pritchard Hill in 1967, among the first to prove this rugged, high-elevation bench on Napa Valley's eastern ridge could grow world-class Cabernet. The volcanic, iron-rich soils sit above the fog line, where poor ground and long, even ripening yield naturally concentrated fruit and the wine's celebrated capacity to age.
Review:
The flagship release here, the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill sports a saturated purple hue and absolutely heavenly aromatics of crème de cassis, liquid violets, graphite, crushed stone, and a Pauillac-like character that builds with time in the glass. Based on 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot, it's full-bodied, has a deep, concentrated mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a great, great finish. This is magical stuff that offers pleasure even today given its purity, balance, and finesse, but I'd be shocked if it didn't keep for 50 years or more. Drink 2025-2075.
Jeb Dunnuck, 100 points
The flagship wine of Chappellet, this is sleek, deep, powerful, extremely pure and vivid Cabernet hidden power, and again this cut tannic frame that shelters the fruit, a beautiful wine that has this enveloping violet fragrance, and showcases the brilliance of the 2023 vintage. 41ha, Philipe Titus winemaker, David Frankie director.
-Jane Anson (Jane Anson - Inside Bordeaux) 100 Points
Chappellet's 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill ended up being bottled as a 5,000-case blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot. This stunning wine offers up a seamless amalgam of cherries, blueberries and cassis, joined by hints of cedar and vanilla and subtle nuances of dried herbs. Medium- to full-bodied, it's concentrated and rich, with ripe tannins lingering on the long, dusty finish. In 20 years, will this rating seem conservative?
-Joe Czerwinski (Robert Parker) 100 Points
Now this is one beautiful, full-bodied, full-framed Napa Cabernet from an iconic producer. The wine opens with blue fruit and beautifully fine, expressive French oak notes – perfectly toasted and exuding espresso, dark chocolate, and molasses – before blackberry fruit builds with intensity and segues seamlessly into a ripe, pure-fruited palate. This powerful wine overflows with ripe fruit and lavish Indian and Asian spices, and candied violets, while powerful tannin is perfectly integrated – forming a seamless tapestry of dark berry fruit-and-brown-spice through the finish. Tasted over three days, it just gets better and better. One note of warning: The bottle itself is a little heavy, so instead of recycling it, consider adding it to your free weight collection.
-Decanter 99 Points
The 2021 Shafer Hillside Select is crafted exclusively from grapes grown on Shafer's rugged hillside vineyards, where steep, rocky soils push the vines to produce low yields of intensely concentrated fruit. The unique terroir, combined with Napa Valley's hallmark climate of warm, sunny days and cool nights, contributed to a vintage with exceptional structure, lush tannins, and deep, vibrant color. The 2021 growing season exemplified these conditions, allowing the grapes to mature beautifully by early September, resulting in a wine with refined, pure aromas and flavors that reflect the richness and elegance of the vineyard.
Review:
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select was tasted as a barrel sample. Deep garnet-purple in color, it charges out with powerful notes of creme de cassis, plum preserves, and juicy blueberries giving way to an undercurrent of tar, candied violets, and star anise. The full-bodied palate is concentrated and impactful, delivering a firm, grainy texture and well-knit freshness to support the generous black and blue fruits, finishing long with loads of mineral and exotic spices sparks. This is impressive!
-The Wine Independent 100 Points
As always, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that will spend 28 months in new barrels. Its deep purple hue gives way to a behemoth of a wine that has incredible cassis, black raspberry, and even blue fruits to go with loads of camphor, minty herbs, graphite, and darker chocolate. It's full-bodied, concentrated, yet pure, flawlessly balanced, and has a great finish.
-Jeb Dunnuck 97-99 Points
All Cabernet Sauvignon from specific hillside blocks on the estate, Shafer's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select spent 28 months in 100% new French oak. It's a big, ripe wine, weighing in at 15.5% alcohol, but it remains harmonious from front to back. Deep, intense aromas of black cherries and cassis are accented by dried spices on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is rich and textural, showing tremendous intensity and length on the finish. Based on how previous examples have aged, this vintage should drink well through 2050.
-Joe Czerwinski (Robert Parker) 99 Points
Aged 32 months in 100% new French oak. It is quintessentially Stags Leap, with grapes grown on Shafer's famous Hillside estate vineyard, roughly 25ha, with very shallow volcanic tufa soils. It's a barrel selection of the very best blocks. A total of 2,900 cases were produced. Such a beautifully balanced wine with tremendous staying power and expressive Stags Leap ironstone minerality with heady sagebrush and conifer notes with white pepper and walnut husk. The wine has an impressive depth of red-toned fruit on the mid-palate framed by tannins that practically dance across the palate, exuding length, tension, and power. Huckleberry and black cherry fruits, black truffle, dried violets, graphite, and salted dark chocolate are all framed by racy acidity, which keeps everything fresh and lifted. The 2021 releases mark Elias Fernandez's 38th vintage as Shafer's winemaker. He was hired by John Shafer in 1984, two weeks out of UC Davis.
-Decanter World Wine Awards 99 Points
Signature Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 79% Cabernet Sauvignon and nearly equal portions of Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Merlot.
The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon has been a foundational wine for more than five decades. It is a benchmark for the long-lived hillside wines of the Napa Valley, full of structure and aging potential, yet seductively forward in its concentrated varietal character. The dry, rocky soils of Pritchard Hill produce small, intensely flavorful grapes. Crop thinning allows for full, even ripening and elevates flavor complexity.
Review:
It is a marvellously compact and coiled-up wine with a towering structure. Very beautifully fragrant dried purple flowers and herbs. Full-bodied with loads of succulent ripe blackberry, creme de cassis, graphite, and loamy earth. Very firm, tight-grained tannins form the base note of this wine, and the finish is long and rich in wild herbs and spices. Cellar worthy. It will release internationally in September 2024. It is rounded out with 6% Merlot.
-Decanter 96 Points
The 2021 Titus Family Estate Reserve embodies the depth, concentration, and beauty of our Ehlers Lane vineyard with grace and elegance. A core of Blueberry, black currant, mulberry and warm coffee are rounded out with hints of lilac and maduro wrapped cigar. Inkiness in the glass gives the wine depth and length with rich finely knit tannins melting to chocolate pot de crème intensity. Crème de cassis and berry tart notes yield to espresso and rich oak on the finish as the palate endures. Enjoy 2025-2041.
Review:
Lastly, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Family Estate Reserve is based on 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9.5% Petit Verdot, and the rest Malbec. It's a touch more focused and linear compared to the Imperatus, but I love the purity and precision in its cr me de cassis, espresso, classy oak, and spicy, floral aromatics. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, with fine tannins and a seamless, layered mouthfeel, as well as ripe tannins, it's going to benefit from 2-3 years in the cellar and evolve for 15 years with ease.
-Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points
Comes from a 4ha estate vineyard on Ehlers Lane, which is rife with large rocks. Aged in 85% new French oak, this is a barrel selection of their top lots. It is exquisite with high fashion and style, showcasing a rich bouquet of candied violets, black cherry, and blackberry fruits nuanced by blueberry and crème de cassis. Full-bodied and striking an excellent balance between perfectly pure, ripe blackberry and cherry fruit with a wealth of lavish baking spices notes, elegant graphite minerality, and polished tannins that resolve with a granularity through the long, refreshing finish. Buoyant from a firm spine of juicy acidity, this is absolutely one to cellar.
-Decanter World Wine Awards 96 Points
Our 2021 Gaspare Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from our grapes grown on the BSEW Estate in the Gaspare Vineyard blocks. Our vineyard is located in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley, which is known for it’s moderate growing climate which encourages consistent ripening throughout the growing season. Our 2021 vintage exhibits aromas of blackberry, brown sugar and cedar. It has a dark fruit flavor finished by powerful but elegant.
Review:
The 2021 Gaspare Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon has a deep garnet-purple color. The nose is a little trapped behind the oak at this youthful stage, allowing glimpses and blackcurrant jelly and juicy plums notes with hints of menthol and anise. Full-bodied, the palate similarly sports a good amount of oak, backed up by the seductive black fruits and approachable, grainy tannins, finishing with a spicy kick.
-Wine Independent 93 Points
Powerful and intensely layered with potent black fruits steeped in lavish cedarwood spices. Full-bodied with saturated black fruits and currant jam, massive beams of tannins, and an extended finish of leather and olive tapenade.
-Decanter World Wine Awards 94 Points
Product Description
Chappellet Pritchard Hill Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 95% Cabernet Sauvignon & 5% Petit Verdot.
Chappellet's Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon has been, since the beginning of their winemaking career, the most sought after wine of their portfolio. The wine is truly a love letter to the winegrowing potential of Pritchard Hill. The wine was inspired by Bordeaux, and like most left bank Bordeaux, the wine is a blend of predominately Cabernet Sauvignon with remaining amounts other classic Bordeaux blend varieties. The vines grow upon rocky, mountainside vineyards. After harvest and fermentation, the wine was aged for 22 months in 100% new French oak barrels.
Review:
Such an attractive and alluring bouquet of violet florals, blue fruit aromatics, sagebrush, bay laurel, and toasty cedarwood. Medium to full-bodied with a wonderfully rich fruit-forward palate of succulent blackberry, plums, and black cherry, nuanced by an inviting minerality with an ironstone quality laced by dried sage. The tannins are palate-etching and crisp and resolve with a fineness that leaves an overall impression of total harmony. Best from 2025; ideally, you'd hold off until near 2030 and enjoy until 2050.
-Decanter 99 Points
Winery: Chappellet
Founded by Molly and Donn Chappellet in 1967, today a second generation of the Chappellet family has embraced the mountain’s exceptional terroir and is committed to stewarding their father’s vision for generations to come.
Pritchard Hill is the source of some of the world’s finest mountain-grown Cabernet Sauvignons, earning numerous comparisons to the great First Growths of Bordeaux. Pritchard Hill has been dubbed “Napa Valley’s Rodeo Drive” and “Napa Valley’s Grand Cru”.
Great wines reflect the complexity and character of great vineyards, as well as the vision, passion and patience of those who farm them. Rising from 800 o 1,800 feet above sea level, the Chappellet Estate Vineyard on Pritchard Hill has earned global acclaim for yielding grapes that produce mountain-grown wines of rare depth, longevity and elegance.
Wines are handcrafted to embody the rugged terroir and intensity of fruit that makes Pritchard Hill famous. Recognized for their signature mix of grandeur, power and purity, each wine is a result of winemaking that begins in the vineyard. To honor and maintain the diversity of Pritchard Hill, the Chappellet team cultivates the estate as 48 individual blocks, each highlighting various soil types, elevations, exposures and grades. This mosaic of micro-vineyards features a wealth of varieties, clones and rootstocks for our winemaking team to work with.
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Double Diamond Oakville Proprietary Red is made from 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 25% Cabernet Franc.
"The inaugural release of the 2021 Proprietary Red Wine upholds the level of excellence expected from winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown. It expresses a fragrant perfume of ripe red cherry, blueberry, and pomegranate, mingled with bell pepper, iron, and vanilla bean. On the palate, generous red and blue fruits are complemented by blackberry compote, dark chocolate, and espresso. The wine has silky tannins, food-friendly acidity, and a lingering finish. It is ready to drink upon release but will cellar well for years to come."
Review:
A 50% Cabernet Sauvignon blend, 25% Merlot, and 25% Cabernet Franc, aged in 87% new French oak and 13% second-use Schrader Darnajou French oak. This wine is wonderfully expressive, complexly layered, and utterly delicious. Hints of sweet cedar and clove complement the fragrant black cherry and dusty currant fruit aromas. Full-bodied with immense mid-palate concentration, it unfolds with supple tannins that add richness and depth. The finish is classic and refined, showcasing graphite, currant fruit, and wet rock nuances—a beautifully balanced wine with a finish that lingers most pleasingly.
-Decanter World Wine Awards 94 Points
This Bordeaux-style blend is elegant, approachable and packed with beautiful black fruit....
-James Suckling 94 Points
The 2021 Proprietary Red Wine is based on 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% each of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. It has lots of the classic 2021 density and depth and is full-bodied, with ample ripe black cherries, currants, flowery incense, chocolate, and sandalwood. Complex and beautifully textured, it has ripe tannins and a great finish. This classic Napa Valley red blend will be loved by readers, and while I suspect it will evolve for a decade, I see no reason to delay gratification.
-Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points
Vineyard Notes
The Poetry Vineyard, carved into a steep west-facing hillside, reaches from the highest elevations of the Stags Leap District appellation to the valley floor. This vineyard draws its uniqueness from shallow, volcanic soils atop fractured shale. Due to the stressful nature of the site, planted with high vine density and farmed to very low yields, the vines develop slowly and produce small flavorful berries. The vineyard is planted to legendary, proprietary heritage selections of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Production Notes
In the cool darkness of night, grapes were hand-picked into twenty-five-pound bins to minimize crushing. By early morning, the grapes were subjected to rigorous selection by our three-tiered sorting process, which includes our cutting-edge optical sorter and a slow, individual berry hand sort. Whole berries were gently delivered by gravity to tank by our unique crane system, which kept the berries intact. Cold soaks lasted from five to eight days, and fermentations were managed through a combination of pump overs and délestage. Extended maceration of up to six weeks ensured exceptional extraction and fine-tuning of tannin profiles.
Winemaker Notes
There is an effortlessness and ease to the 2021 Poetry that springs from the continuity and familiarity of its caretakers and the experience of the vines themselves as their roots dig deep into the shallow unforgiving terraces of rock and rhyolitic crevices. Wafts of warm summer mulberries, fractured rock, and violet perfume envelop the glass. Wild blackberry preserves form the flavor on the entry and combine with tantalizing, black truffle, sea salt, and steak au poivre juices. Plush tannin swathes the finish and wraps the tongue in a mineral laden, majestic embrace where the flavors linger long and pleasingly -Christopher Tynan, Director of Winemaking
Review:
“The medium-bodied palate is so tightly wound at this youthful stage, slowly revealing layer upon layer of fragrant black and red fruits with loads of mineral sparks, supported by beautifully fine-grained yet firm tannins and seamless acidity, finishing with epic length and a whole firework display of mineral and floral notes. This is gorgeous. ” Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent 100 Points
Continuum Red Blend 2021 is made from 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, 11% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot.
A vintage set apart for its perseverance and resilience, the 2021 Continuum is one of refined concentration – a resounding expression of both measured intensity and enduring vibrancy. This is a multi-layered magnificent vintage that reveals floral notes, with black cherry and wild foraged mixed berries throughout. One can perceive the chemise, sage, and bay giving a gorgeous savory expression, reflective of the natural environment that surrounds the Sage Mountain Vineyard. 2021 is a wine of incredible complexity and nuance – a wine for the ages.
WINEGROWING- Continuum is estate grown on our Sage Mountain Vineyard. It’s location, high on Pritchard Hill along the eastern ridge above Oakville, overlooks Napa Valley and the San Francisco Bay. The rocky, volcanic soils of the site focus the vine’s energy keeping yields low yielding fruit of depth and complexity. 38 acres of mature estate vineyard, planted in 1991 and 1996, with additional plantings in 2004, 2010, together comprise 38 distinct vineyard blocks. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Merlot are grown from 1300 to 1600 feet in elevation, on western and southern facing aspects with slight northern and eastern slopes in places. This diversity of plantings on our volcanic soils are the essence of the complexity of Continuum.
PRODUCTION- Continuum is 100% estate grown, produced and bottled. All fruit is selectively hand-harvested at night. The fruit is then sorted before and after de-stemming, and gravity fed into French oak or concrete tanks. A threeday cold soak is followed by fermentation, receiving three to four pumpovers daily, and délestage two to three times in total during the most active period. The wine remains on skins in tank for 20 to 40 days. All lots are then drained, basket pressed, and transferred with lees for malolactic fermentation and aging. Continuum spent 22 months in barrel. 63 percent of French oak barrels were new and 35 percent were once used. A single concrete amphora was also used for aging. The wine clarified slowly and settled naturally in our cold barrel room, was racked sparingly and bottled without fining or filtration. Each vineyard lot was tasted and carefully considered many times to assemble the blend. TASTING NOTES- Continuum shows energy and verve. The wine expresses purity and precision, with high tone aromatics of red and blue fruit, deep plum and rose oil. This vintage shows an approachable nerve of the land in the refined mineral quality on the palate. The surrounding native vegetation of bay and sage is evidenced in an earthy, savory profile. This is a shimmering, silky and harmoniously integrated wine with densely packed fine grain tannins.
DECANTING- For the fullest sensory experience we encourage decanting to allow the wine to breathe before serving. Decanting awakens the wine’s more purely fragrant expression and enhances the suppleness of the palate. Continuum is accessible and enjoyable upon release; however extended aging will be richly rewarded.
Review:
This note is written before the final blend of the 2021 Continuum. Deep purple-black in color, it hits the ground running with an intense nose of red and black currant preserves, lilacs, baker's chocolate, and graphite, leading to an undercurrant of black olives and red loam. On the medium to full-bodied palate it is very lively, grainy and super-concentrated, finishing long and shimmery.
-Wine Independent 98-100 Points
The 2021 Continuum is a blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, 11 % Petit Verdot, and 9% Merlot. Deep garnet-purple colored, notes of black cherries, warm cassis, and plum preserves storm from the glass, giving way to nuances of dark chocolate, violets, and Sichuan pepper. The full-bodied palate is fabulously concentrated and yet so energetic, delivering firm, finely grained tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing long and perfumed. Wow.
-Wine Palate 100 Points
This is so aromatic with blackcurrant, blackberry, graphite, iron, pine bark and orange peel. Hints of wild sage and peppermint. Seductive perfumes. Full-bodied with extremely well-integrated tannins that have great length. Elegant firmness at the finish. The quality of the tannins is some of the best I have had in a young Continuum. Seamless silk. Great finish. 45% cabernet sauvignon, 35% cabernet franc, 11% merlot and 9% petit verdot. Best after 2027.
-James Suckling 99 Points
Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle No. 26 is a blend of 58% Chardonnay, 42% Pinot Noir
white gold in color with delicate and persistent bubbles, Grand Siecle No. 26 offers a very complex nose which mixes honeysuckle, lemon, clementine and fresh butter aromas, followed by notes of hazelnut and a touch of honey. The feel in the mouth is very delicate and fresh with candied lemon and fresh hazelnut aromas. The palate is silky and mineral with notes of honeysuckle, flaked almonds and clementine.
It pairs with high quality produce and refined dishes, including shellfish, noble fish and white meats such as Thai style langoustine tartare and fine roasted poultry.
- 3 exceptional years chosen for their complementarity among the rare Laurent‑Perrier vintages.
- A majority of Chardonnay complemented by Pinot Noir from a maximum of 11 Grands Crus out of the 319 Crus in the Champagne region.
- Aged for 10 years on the lees for the bottle format and a few more years for the magnum format.
Vintage in Champagne is usually synonymous with excellence for Prestige Cuvées. Contrarily, Laurent‑Perrier believes that only the art of assemblage can offer what nature can never provide, that is, the perfect year.
The expression of the perfect year is that of a great champagne wine that has long ageing potential and over time develops depth, intensity and aromatic complexity yet retains its freshness and vibrancy.
Since 1959, Grand Siècle has been revealed only 26 times in bottle format and 23 times in magnum.
The « Grand Siècle » (Great Century) is the name given to one of the most prosperous periods (17th century) in the history of France known for the capacity of man, through his works, to create what nature cannot. Louis XIVth, known as the « Sun King », by creating the « Château de Versailles » and its gardens, was the architect of this model of harmony, balance and perfection.
The symmetry and perspective of the « Jardins à la française », the capacity to grow Mediterranean fruits (especially Oranges inside the « Orangerie ») in such a Northern climate, creating the Grand Canal, the fountains and ponds with no nearby rivers are many illustrations of this ability of man to sublimate natural elements. The name of Grand Siècle was chosen for Laurent‑Perrier’s Prestige Cuvée based on this common vision to reach a perfection that Nature, on its own, cannot provide.
Review:
This is really something. Electric on the palate. The aromas are so complex with sliced fresh and dried ginger, subtle pie crust, tarte tatin and hints of nutmeg with some salted caramel. Toasted bread, too. Always subtle. The palate is full- to medium-bodied yet hemmed-in with a freshness and balance that draws you back. Savory and vibrant. It's full of energy. Spectacular. Fascinating. Symphonic blend of 2012, 2008 and 2007. 65% of the 2012, 25% of the 2008 and 10% of the 2007. Eight grand cru. Chardonnay 58% and 42% pinot noir. Disgorged February 2023. 10 years on the lees. 7g/L dosage.
-James Suckling 100 Points
Young and present, this is an energetic and bold expression of violets, lavender, and cassis mixed with dark chocolate, cherry, plum, and graphite. A wine happy to be tucked away in the cellar, and it’s also expressing itself beautifully now.
Review:
Tasted blind, in a lineup that included vintages back to 2010, a barrel sample of Spottswoode's 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon stood out as being one of the most exciting efforts. Full-bodied, ripe and rich without being overbearing, it delivers concentrated black cherry and cassis fruit framed by supple, velvety-textured tannins. It's long on the finish, with an attractively soft, dusty-loamy texture and no overt signs of a fire-troubled Napa vintage.
-Joe Czerwinski 100 Points
2020 Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery, Cabernet Sauvignon - St. Helena NV /// Lovely fragrant blackberry and black cherry fruit, cassis, and rich tobacco spices with lovely fresh earth notes and a sweet kiss of new wood cedar. Incredibly concentrated dark berry fruit with fabulously angular tannins with smooth long beams with crisp edges. Purple florals, dried sagebrush, and chocolate shavings with lids of graphite and deep iron-like mineral character. And a finish of dark saturated fruit that goes and goes for days. There are purple floras too. Polished and bright, with vivacious acidity and freshness evident from the sip to the finish. Wow, this wine. 98-100. // 13.7 ... has the potential to be a 100-point wine. (JC)
-Decanter 99 Points
Slated for a September 2024 release, Spottswoode's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon comes across as more vibrant, floral and fresh than the 2020. Violet and cassis notes are accented by hints of crushed stone and pencil shavings on the nose. Hugely complex yet harmonious, this medium-bodied effort is firm but silky in feel, with a long, elegant finish. Lovely stuff. (JC) 98+
-Wine Advocate 98 Points
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, tasted as a barrel sample, has 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot in the blend. Deep garnet-purple in color, it springs with notes of cedar chest, cinnamon toast, and black cherry preserves, leading to a core of blackcurrant pastilles, potpourri, and mocha. Medium-bodied, and big on flavors, the palate delivers mouth-coating black fruits with a rock-solid structure of firm tannins and lively acidity, finishing long. Approximately 3,500 cases are to be bottled. Spottswoode finished picking just the day before the Glass Fire broke out. Winemaker Aron Weinkauf says that there was not a lot smoke here from that year's LNU fires.
-The Wine Independent 98 Points
The 2021 Shafer Hillside Select is crafted exclusively from grapes grown on Shafer's rugged hillside vineyards, where steep, rocky soils push the vines to produce low yields of intensely concentrated fruit. The unique terroir, combined with Napa Valley's hallmark climate of warm, sunny days and cool nights, contributed to a vintage with exceptional structure, lush tannins, and deep, vibrant color. The 2021 growing season exemplified these conditions, allowing the grapes to mature beautifully by early September, resulting in a wine with refined, pure aromas and flavors that reflect the richness and elegance of the vineyard.
Review:
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select was tasted as a barrel sample. Deep garnet-purple in color, it charges out with powerful notes of creme de cassis, plum preserves, and juicy blueberries giving way to an undercurrent of tar, candied violets, and star anise. The full-bodied palate is concentrated and impactful, delivering a firm, grainy texture and well-knit freshness to support the generous black and blue fruits, finishing long with loads of mineral and exotic spices sparks. This is impressive!
-The Wine Independent 100 Points
As always, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that will spend 28 months in new barrels. Its deep purple hue gives way to a behemoth of a wine that has incredible cassis, black raspberry, and even blue fruits to go with loads of camphor, minty herbs, graphite, and darker chocolate. It's full-bodied, concentrated, yet pure, flawlessly balanced, and has a great finish.
-Jeb Dunnuck 97-99 Points
All Cabernet Sauvignon from specific hillside blocks on the estate, Shafer's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select spent 28 months in 100% new French oak. It's a big, ripe wine, weighing in at 15.5% alcohol, but it remains harmonious from front to back. Deep, intense aromas of black cherries and cassis are accented by dried spices on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is rich and textural, showing tremendous intensity and length on the finish. Based on how previous examples have aged, this vintage should drink well through 2050.
-Joe Czerwinski (Robert Parker) 99 Points
Aged 32 months in 100% new French oak. It is quintessentially Stags Leap, with grapes grown on Shafer's famous Hillside estate vineyard, roughly 25ha, with very shallow volcanic tufa soils. It's a barrel selection of the very best blocks. A total of 2,900 cases were produced. Such a beautifully balanced wine with tremendous staying power and expressive Stags Leap ironstone minerality with heady sagebrush and conifer notes with white pepper and walnut husk. The wine has an impressive depth of red-toned fruit on the mid-palate framed by tannins that practically dance across the palate, exuding length, tension, and power. Huckleberry and black cherry fruits, black truffle, dried violets, graphite, and salted dark chocolate are all framed by racy acidity, which keeps everything fresh and lifted. The 2021 releases mark Elias Fernandez's 38th vintage as Shafer's winemaker. He was hired by John Shafer in 1984, two weeks out of UC Davis.
-Decanter World Wine Awards 99 Points
- back
Gaja Barolo Conteisa is made from 100 percent Nebbiolo.
Piedmontese for "quarrel," this wine was named for the historic dispute between the communes of La Morra and Barolo for possession of the Cerequio land. This garnet-colored wine features expressive floral notes and an aroma of red berries, plum, licorice and spice. The sumptuous texture and refined character offer perfectly integrated tannins and an elegant finish.
STYLE: Full-bodied, Rich, Balanced
FLAVOR: Floral, Red Berries, Plums, Licorice, Spice
Reviews:
This is a really enticing wine with an open and vivid nature that tells you right away it is Barolo, but it’s polished and sweetly tannic. You want to taste and taste. It’s medium- to full-bodied with rounded tannins and a savory finish. Juicy and so approachable now. Better in a couple of years, but hard to resist now. Try after 2026.
James Suckling 98 Points
Raen Sonoma Coast Royal St Robert Cuvee Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
Our Royal St. Robert bottling is dedicated to our grandfather Robert, who has been our greatest teacher in our journey in wine. This special cuvée is a selection from our coastal vineyards, giving a window into the rugged hills of the westerly Sonoma Coast. Captivating aromas of crushed blackberries, just-ripe plum and sour black cherries fill the bowl.
Floral notes of fresh roses and black tea with bergamot follow, giving way to wet gravel and warm, sun-dried forest floor. The powerful red and black fruit core is delicately interlaced with these floral tea notes and it couples with exotic spice box, which seamlessly comes together in a persistently long, bright and youthful finish.
whole cluster • natively fermented • 10 acres • 13% alc
RAEN is the Sonoma Coast project of Carlo and Dante Mondavi, dedicated to cool-climate, organically farmed coastal Pinot Noir. Named for their grandfather Robert, the Royal St. Robert Cuvée draws from westerly Sonoma Coast sites where fog and ocean wind stretch the growing season and preserve the bright acidity and floral lift that define the wine.
Review:
Spellbinding aromas of rose petals, strawberries, citrus and bark, with hints of lemongrass. Medium-bodied, tight and structured, this offers a captivating combination of linear intensity and calmness, so classy and sophisticated. A continued benchmark for American pinot noir. Drink or hold.
James Suckling, 99 points
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