Country: | United States |
Regions: | California California (Napa) |
Winery: | Orin Swift |
Grape Type: | Cabernet Sauvignon |
Organic: | Yes |
Vintage: | 2018 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Orin Swift Cellars Mercury Head Cabernet is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot.
Dark violet with a ruby crown, the wine exhibits classic Napa Cabernet aromatics with our style: black fruits—plum and cherry—dark chocolate, leather and Rutherford Dust coalesce from the glass. The entry is elegant and begins to flood the palate with notes of cassis, blackberry, blueberry, caramel and a touch of brown sugar and cinnamon: rich and bold. Seamless and focused, the wine closes with lingering dusty tannins and a touch of baking chocolate.
Review:
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Mercury Head (aged for 15 months in oak, 51% new) delivers classic notes of warm cassis, plum preserves and mulberries with hints of cigar box, dried bay leaves, pencil lead and truffles. The full-bodied, densely packed, full-throttle palate has a solid structure of firm tannins and oodles for freshness supporting the muscular black fruits, finishing long and savory.
Wine Advocate 93+ Points
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Fay Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
The 2018 Fay Cabernet Sauvignon offers fragrant aromas of boysenberry, cherry pie, cassis, sweet spice and a touch of gardenia. The wine has a velvety mouthfeel with a well-balanced structure supported by lush polished tannins and flavors of blackberry and blueberry.
Try pairing this estate-grown Cabernet with Thai peanut and shrimp salad, savory plum tart with goat cheese, or herb crusted lamb chops with creamy polenta.
Blend: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Review:
Very floral with violets and roses, as well as sweet berries, cherries and some redcurrants. It’s round and refined with lovely berry character and fine tannins. So attractive now, but better in two or three years.
-James Suckling 96 Points
Vintage Notes: A cool summer and early fall allowed a longer ripening season, helping benefit this years Cabernet Franc, as its natural spice was allowed to mature and become better defined.
Pearmund Cellars Cabernet Franc is made from100% Cabernet Franc. Known primarily as a blending grape in Bordeaux’s left bank. Its ability to grow and mature in Virginia makes it one of the States finest varietals.
Tasting Notes: A nose of cherries, raspberries and fennel. Peppery spice continues on the palate with notes of cocoa and sweet cedar wood, allowing for easy drinking. A hint of pepper will linger on the finish.
Seña is an authentic Chilean blend made from the finest Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot varieties. The Carmenere variety adds an evident Chilean personality to the wine.
COMPOSITION: 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Malbec 15% Carmenere, 7% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot WINEMAKER’S NOTES “Of a deep violet red colour, the complexity on the nose conceals its many subtleties, unfolding floral notes alongside red and black fruits, denoting its distinctive freshness. Several layers are unveiled delivering notes of cedar, tobacco, bitter chocolate and truffles. An elegant, tense and yet very attractive wine, it generously offers fresh and juicy fruit that reminds of blueberries, raspberries, some spices and Cuban cigar box notes. Above all, Seña 2018 is a truly captivating wine that accomplishes a unique balance between power and elegance. I believe we are beholding one of the greatest vintages ever crafted in the 25 years of Seña’s history.”
An iconic decision is made from the heart. Following the sign of his intuition, in 1995 Eduardo Chadwick pioneered a joint venture with Robert Mondavi to handcraft a world-class Chilean wine. Chadwick searched alongside Mondavi for four long years before finding the ideal terroir in Chile’s Valle de Aconcagua that spoke to their instincts. Seña is the culmination of their vision – an expression of consummate quality and character.
Review:
This is a very thoughtful Seña that shows unique aromas of warm earth, mushrooms and conifer, turning to dark berries and black olives. The palate is more glamorous with ultra-fine tannins that envelop your palate. Shows power and vibrancy at the end. Toned muscles. It’s a very intellectual wine that harkens back to the 2015. Blend of 55% cabernet sauvignon, 18% malbec, 15% carmenere, 7% cabernet franc and 5% merlot. - James Suckling 100 Points
Alejandro Bulgheroni Lithology Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Alejandro Bulgheroni Estate Lithology is a series of single vineyard and AVA-designated wines made from select sites within Napa Valley. Lithology Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is produced solely from fruit grown in the historic Beckstoffer to Kalon Vineyard planted in 1865 by W.H. Crabb and represents Oakville's famous bench land.
Review:
Pure perfection, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Lithology Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is a nuclear fruit bomb of a wine, offering massive richness and depth while being as graceful as a ballerina, with no sensation of weight or heaviness. Classic To Kalon crème de cassis, black raspberries, flowery incense, spice, and tobacco notes all define the bouquet, and it’s full-bodied, with a layered, multi-dimensional texture, ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. It has another 2-3 decades of prime drinking ahead of it. This cuvée is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from four blocks in To Kalon, aged 20 months in 82% new French oak.
-Jeb Dunnuck 100 Points
Lokoya Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon is made from Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
Review:
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District is a monster of a mountain Cabernet that has a primordial bouquet of blackcurrants, smoked earth, chocolate, and graphite. While Spring Mountain wines tend to be more aromatic and complex right out of the gate, that’s not the case here, and this is going to need bottle age to round into form. Full-bodied on the palate, with a rich, concentrated mouthfeel, it has serious tannins, notable purity of fruit, and a great finish. With air, it picks up more and more classic Spring Mountain floral and exotic notes, and it’s flawlessly balanced, with gorgeous tannins and a great, great finish. This is a brilliant wine in the lineup and unquestionably one of the true gems from Spring Mountain in 2018. Give bottles 4-5 years and enjoy over the following 2-3 decades.
-Jeb Dunnuck 98 Points
Orin Swift Cellars Mercury Head Cabernet is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot.
Dark violet with a ruby crown, the wine exhibits classic Napa Cabernet aromatics with our style: black fruits—plum and cherry—dark chocolate, leather and Rutherford Dust coalesce from the glass. The entry is elegant and begins to flood the palate with notes of cassis, blackberry, blueberry, caramel and a touch of brown sugar and cinnamon: rich and bold. Seamless and focused, the wine closes with lingering dusty tannins and a touch of baking chocolate.
Review:
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Mercury Head has a deep garnet-purple color and needs a little swirling to unlock classic notes of ripe blackcurrants, warm plums and cedar chest with hints of wild sage, violets, Sichuan pepper and fallen leaves. The full-bodied palate has firm and grainy tannins with a lively backbone and tightly knit black fruits, finishing long and savory. 6,717 cases were made.
-Wine Advocate 96 Points
The history of Orin Swift Cellars dates back to 1995 when on a lark, David Swift Phinney took a friend up on an offer and went to Florence, Italy to spend a semester “studying”. During that time, he was introduced to wine, how it was made, and got hooked. A few more years of university led to graduation and eventually a job at Robert Mondavi Winery in 1997 as a temporary harvest worker. Deciding that if he was going to work this hard, it would eventually have to be for himself, he founded Orin Swift Cellars in 1998; Orin is his father’s middle name and Swift is his mother’s maiden name. With two tons of zinfandel and not much else, he spent the next decade making wine for others as well as himself and grew the brand to what it is today. We welcome you to stop by and visit us at our tasting room located in downtown St. Helena. |
Long Shadows Pirouette Meritage is made from 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 13% Malbec.
Philippe Melka, named one of the top nine winemakers in the world by Robert Parker, used small lots from Washington State's finest vineyards to craft this enticing red blend.
A variety of fermentation methods were used to enhance complexity and richness in this classic Bordeaux blend. Hand-harvested Cabernet was fermented in 400L French oak barrels that were gently rolled throughout fermentation to integrate the oak with refined, dark fruit flavors and give the wine its silky mouthfeel. All other varieties were fermented in traditional stainless steel tanks, with select lots enjoying longer skin contact to enhance the wine's dark color and mid-palate. The finished wine was aged 22 months in French oak barrels (75% new) before bottling unfiltered and unfined.
Review:
The 2017 Pirouette checks in as 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 13% Malbec, and the rest Petit Verdot. Gorgeous crème de cassis, crushed flowers, white chocolate, and espresso notes all give way to a full-bodied, thrillingly textured, layered red that has terrific tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish. It can be drunk today but will develop additional complexity with 3-4 years of bottle age and keep for two decades or more.
-Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points
Ossian Verdejo is made from 100 percent Verdejo.
An old vines Verdejo barrel fermented with a different to what we are used to in the white variety of this expression. It has a remarkable complexity resulting in smoothness and depth of a high-end white. Very suitable for cellaring.
Color: Old golden yellow color with greenish reflections.
Aromas: Complex, toasty aromas, nuts, dried fruit.
Flavors: Large, creamy, spicy, balanced and voluminous.
Manual harvest in 15 kg boxes. Inspection rigorous selection table. Certified organic farming. Full clusters, stemmed and pressed very soft, only the first run only is used. Fermentation with indigenous yeast. After fermentation the wine is aged on the lees in French oak barrels (20% new, 40% one-year-old barrel and 40% two-year-old barrels during 9 months with batonnage (stirring up the lees). Then, the wine is bottled and released only after 12 month of bottle aging.
Review:
"Fruit from 100-year-old vines spent nine months on the lees to create a creamy, nutty profile. Flavors and aromas of pear and peach sharpen their tune with jicama and a salty mineral thread. Bright and well seasoned with basil and tarragon."
- The Tasting Panel (May/June 2022), 94 pts