DAOU Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Petit Verdot.
The 2021 DAOU Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is emblematic of Paso Robles as a world-class region for Bordeaux-style wines. Intense purple-red hues foreshadow deep aromas of black fruit, pomegranate, tobacco, mocha, and bay leaf. Trailing notes of clove, nutmeg, and vanilla emerge as the wine opens up in the glass. Opulent textures expand across the palate with flavors of red fruit, blueberry, and chocolate-covered raspberry. The overall experience is fresh and rich, concluding with velvety tannins and impressive length.
Review:
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is blended with 23% Petit Verdot, made entirely with free-run juice, and it will be matured for 16 months in 50% new French oak. Opaque ruby, it offers pure aromas of cassis, violet, grilled meats, desert sage and bell pepper. The full-bodied palate is powdery, energetic and detailed with a long, layered finish.
-Wine Advocate 94-96 Points
DAOU Vineyards Soul of a Lion is made from 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 10% Petit Verdot.
The 2019 Soul of a Lion is a blockbuster vintage that showcases how Bordeaux varieties are remarkably suited to the terroir of DAOU Mountain. This wine explodes from the glass with a kaleidoscope of aromas and flavors, including blackberry, blueberry, black currant, dark cherry, sweet tobacco, and licorice. An added floral dimension imparts an integrated sense of elegance and freshness. While full-bodied with ultra-high phenolic levels, this wine maintains its evenness and poise through an extraordinarily long finish. Structured, balanced, and powerful, the 2019 Soul of a Lion will reveal its full magnitude after several years of careful cellaring.
Review:
The 2019 Soul Of A Lion is a blend of free-run Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot, aged 22 months in 100% new French oak. Opaque ruby in color, it offers aromatic contrast between dark, savory cherry fruit, chargrill and graphite, and top notes of green pepper and rose petals. The palate explodes with detailed flavors and its tannins are already resolved and chocolaty, with seamless acidity and exotic spicy layers emerging on the extended finish. Wow!
-Wine Advocate 97+
DAOU Vineyards Soul of a Lion is made from 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot .
The 2020 vintage presents an alluring profusion of black cherry, mulberry and Oregon blackberry aromas with notes of leather, cigar box and dark chocolate. Hints of desert sage and crème de menthe accent the rich fruit. The palate is silky and voluptuous, delivering loads of currant, cassis, black raspberry and ripe cherry. Notes of fig and baking spice are underscored by earthy tones of dates and truffle. Mature, ripe tannins yield a weighty, velvety texture integrated with a limestone minerality and subtle oak. A lengthy finish leaves lingering impressions of blackberry, plum and espresso with a touch of white pepper. A wine of immense staying power that will evolve favorably for many years to come.
Review:
Impressively dark in the glass, this bottling pairs intense purple fruit and flower on this nose with more roasted, umami-laden aromas. The elegant palate is a master class in tannin management, proving firm in structure yet soft in mouthfeel. Flavors of blackberry jam, cocoa, walnut and cracked pepper ride a lingering acidity into the finish.
-Wine Enthusiast 97 Points
DAOU Vineyards Soul of a Lion is made from 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot .
The 2020 vintage presents an alluring profusion of black cherry, mulberry and Oregon blackberry aromas with notes of leather, cigar box and dark chocolate. Hints of desert sage and crème de menthe accent the rich fruit. The palate is silky and voluptuous, delivering loads of currant, cassis, black raspberry and ripe cherry. Notes of fig and baking spice are underscored by earthy tones of dates and truffle. Mature, ripe tannins yield a weighty, velvety texture integrated with a limestone minerality and subtle oak. A lengthy finish leaves lingering impressions of blackberry, plum and espresso with a touch of white pepper. A wine of immense staying power that will evolve favorably for many years to come.
Review:
Impressively dark in the glass, this bottling pairs intense purple fruit and flower on this nose with more roasted, umami-laden aromas. The elegant palate is a master class in tannin management, proving firm in structure yet soft in mouthfeel. Flavors of blackberry jam, cocoa, walnut and cracked pepper ride a lingering acidity into the finish.
-Wine Enthusiast 97 Points
DAOU Vineyards Soul of a Lion is made from 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot.
Barrel Aged: 22 months in 100% new French oak
Named for the father of Georges and Daniel Daou, Soul of a Lion is the crown jewel of DAOU, and an emblem of our quest to produce unsurpassed Cabernet Sauvignon from the terroir of DAOU Mountain.
The 2021 vintage displays remarkable intensity in the glass with dark, inky ruby-purple hues. Abundant fruit aromas of black cherry, blackberry, blueberry jam and black currant are interwoven with accents of baking spices, sage and graphite. A voluminous entry introduces sumptuous layers of chocolate-covered blueberry, tobacco, mocha, vanilla and toasted oak. The mouthfeel is concentrated and elegant, with round, vibrant tannins that carry into a commanding finish. A wine of immense staying power that will evolve favorably for many years to come.
96-98 Points by Robert Parker
Review:
Extremely dark in the glass, it starts with heavily spiced aromas of vanilla, mocha and walnut cream that balance the rich black cherry and roasted berry fruits. The palate's tannins are immensely grippy yet expertly polished, framing flavors of loam, black olive and graphite.
-Wine Enthusiast 97 Points
J. Davies Nobles Vineyard Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
The Nobles Pinot Noir starts off with aromas of rich strawberry, black cherry and Earl Grey tea, followed gracefully with coriander and exotic spices. The palate offers a juicy mid-palate of blueberry and plum layered with mocha and rhubarb, closing with a long-integrated acidity.
Review:
Elegant and pure-tasting, with red berry, plum and raspberry flavors that are well-structured. Toasty midpalate, with a rich finish that offers spicy minerality. Drink now through 2026.
-Wine Spectator 92 Points
Every now and then, in life and in wine, we are presented with unique opportunities to express ourselves and create something truly remarkable.
When rare opportunities arise, we need to capture, nurture and develop them so that their potential is fulfilled. So when Torbreck was given the opportunity to work with one of the most famous vineyards in the Barossa Valley, it became almost inevitable that the resulting wine would be truly remarkable.
In 2003, Torbreck growers and fourth generation descendants of the Seppelt family, Malcolm and Joylene Seppelt, asked our winemakers to create for them a small batch of Shiraz from their old Gnadenfrei vineyard in the sub-region of Marananga.
Planted in 1958, the five acre vineyard is traditionally dry grown and comes from an original Barossa clonal source. South facing, on the eastern side of a ridge separating the Seppeltsfield and Marananga appellations, these aged vines have been meticulously hand tended, traditionally farmed and pruned by a grower with a lifetime’s experience on Western Barossa soils of very dark, heavy clay loam over red friable clay. The resulting low yields of small, concentrated Shiraz berries make the vineyard the envy of all winemakers in the Barossa.
We looked longingly at the wine when it was returned to the Seppelts, knowing that it was the best we had ever made. In 2005 we convinced the Seppelts to sell Torbreck the fruit and The Laird was born. In 2013 Torbreck purchased the Gnadenfrei vineyard, securing The Laird’s reputation as one of the world’s great single vineyard Shiraz wines.
Torbreck is the name of a forest near Inverness, Scotland and you’ll find more than a passing nod to the Celts in our wine naming conventions. The Laird of the Estate in Scotland is the Lord of the Manor and master of all he surveys.
Review:
I poured the 2017 The Laird, set it aside and got about doing other jobs for 45 minutes or so, to give it some room to breathe. And it does breathe. It has its own pulse and beat and life, and it flexes and moves in the mouth. This is incredibly enveloping, with aromas reminiscent of campfire coals, charred eucalyptus, lamb fat, roasted beetroot, black tea and a prowling sort of countenance. In the mouth, the wine is bonded and cohesive and seamless, there are no gaps between anything, no space between fruit, oak and tannin; it all comes as one. While this is a singular wine, it is so big and concentrated that it needs no accompaniment other than some fresh air and a good mate. It's denser than osmium and is impenetrable at this stage.
Boussey Meursault Les Meurgers is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
The grapes for Meursault Les Meurgers are coming from the parcel located on the route to Auxey Duresses, in a horseshoe shape ravine. The grapes always reach ripeness quite early in the season. The name of this village comes from the efforts undertaken by man to plant vines in extremely stony soils. Stones that were thrown formed piles, that are called "murger".
Rich and luxurious wine, well balanced and structured in the mouth. Beautiful golden yellow in color with green highlights. It boasts aromas of toasted nuts, ripe fruit and a very delicate oak aroma. On the palate it is dry and mellow with a lingering smooth finish.
Pair with foie gras, lobster, seafood, poultry and fruit tart.