Moone-Tsai Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
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Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby in the glass, the 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet is fragrant with black fruit, cedar and rose petal. While softly alluring on the nose, the wine’s attack is assertive and vigorous, without being noisy or domineering. Concentrated notes of black cherry, boysenberry, earth, and graphite initially predominate, giving way to feints of black tea and cherry cola. Aged twenty months in 56% new French Oak, this expressive wine displays a bright acidity, chalky tannins, and a lightly chiseled muscularity all the way through to a fine, triumphant finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon comes from five vineyards and contains some Merlot and Petit Verdot. A barrel sample aging in 60% new oak, it is very deep purple-black in color and a little closed, openly slowly to reveal iron ore, mossy tree bark, fragrant earth and lavender with a core of fresh black currants, red currants and Morello cherries plus wafts of oolong tea and black olives. Medium to full-bodied, firm and lively, it has an intense mid-palate of muscular fruit, finishing long and mineral laced.
Rating: (92-94)
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Jeb Dunnuck
Dense purple, with ripe, sexy notes of crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, graphite, and tobacco, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is full-bodied and has a terrific sense of minerality, ripe yet present tannins, beautiful purity, and a great finish. This comes from a mix of sites and was brought up in roughly 50% new French oak. It's a smoking value well worth snatching up.
Other Vintages
2017-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Connoisseurs'
Guide
- Decanter
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Robert
Parker
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
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Robert
Parker
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James
Suckling
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.