Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

Professional Ratings

• 98 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  This 2003 was showing spectacularly well, and based on my recollection, I think I may have liked it even more than the 2002, which is the reverse of how I felt a decade ago. One of the biggest (14.6% alcohol) wines made by Screaming Eagle during this period, it boasts an opaque ruby/purple color as well as classic, pure, creme de cassis, cedarwood and hints of Asian soy sauce and forest floor notes. The multidimensional aromatics are followed by a full-bodied, silky-textured, opulent, rich, atypically big wine that is impeccably well-balanced. It is just starting to come into its own. Four to five more years in the cellar will prove magical, and this 2003 is one of the candidates for the wine of the vintage. It should last another 20+ years.
• 96 Wine Enthusiast
  Ripe and flashy, offering tiers of cassis, chocolate and charry new oak flavors, wrapped in sweet, smooth tannins. Has an acidic bite midpalate that balances the lushness, and will add to the wine’s cellar-worthiness. Defines sheer power, but never loses control. Best now and through 2017, at least.