Winemaker Notes
The 2021 ONDA Cabernet Sauvignon weaves together elements of our different estate properties. It opens with aromas of black cherries, black currants, and dark chocolate. Intermingled are notes of espresso and a hint of vanilla. The palate is fresh and compact with fine grained linear tannins. Dense flavors of black cherries, cassis, and plum tart layer with notes graphite and a briny minerality. The mid-palate transitions to flavors of black tea, savory herbs, and dark chocolate on the finish. The predominantly hillside provenance of the grapes, combined with extremely low yields in 2021 lend a backbone of firm, fine grained tannin. The touch of Cabernet Franc brings complexity with hints of mountain sage and lilacs. The Petit Verdot brings depth to the tannins and a hint of blueberries. While compact and tight in its youth, this wine will grow in complexity as it continues to age. Enjoy now through 2050 and beyond. While this wine is beautiful now it will reward ageing.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Onda comes from a mix of the Helms, Crystal Spring, Hershey, and Lotus vineyards and is based on 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc. It's a still wine that’s showing even better now from bottle, offering a sweet nose of crème de cassis, violets, darker chocolate, and a Graves-like graphite character. It's full-bodied, has a deep, rich, layered mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. This is as good as, if not better than, the 2016, 2018, and 2019, and is a brilliant bottle of wine that readers will love. It's going to cruise for two decades in cold cellars.
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James Suckling
Juicy and pretty with plenty of sweet berries and medium chewy tannins. Full-bodied, showing great depth of fruit with juiciness and richness. More tannins now. Best after 2027.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Yields were down in 2021, but the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Onda is super. Dried herbs combine easily with cassis and cherries on the nose, bringing a cool, restrained sense to the aromas, while the full-bodied palate is somewhere between silky and velvety in texture, finishing long and focused. Drawn mainly from the estate vineyard on Crystal Springs Road, there are 866 cases of this blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and well-built, offering alluring notes of cassis, plum and boysenberry puree laced with graphite and sweet tobacco, plus a flash of singed apple wood. Shows tightly coiled energy through the finish, with a flicker of iron minerality. Best from 2026 through 2038.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.