Winemaker Notes
The long, mild 2018 growing season delivered fruit that was fully ripe, with great phenolic maturity, natural acidity, and a panoply of flavors and aromas. The core of black fruits is adorned with notes of dried sage, bramble, flint and baking spices. The wine enters gently, but then immediately broadens and intensifies on the palate, growing in volume and finishing with a flurry—kirsch, raspberry, exotic woods, campfire and vanilla bean. The tannins are bold but rounded, making the wine incredibly attractive right now, and meaning also that there is plenty to look forward to in the future.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a beautifully made wine, 100% varietal and sourced from two Coombsville sites, made by Andy Erickson. Cigar box and crushed rock accent an impressively structured core of youthful tannin, dried herb, black currant and baking spice. The oak is well integrated and friendly to the fruit and savory characteristics. Best After 2038. Cellar Selection.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon from this estate showed beautifully, with a classic dense purple color as well as great aromatics of currants, blueberries, tobacco leaf, new leather, and spice. Medium to full-bodied and nicely concentrated, with ripe, velvety tannins, this young, unevolved Cabernet Sauvignon will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and drink nicely for 10-15 years. It’s well worth seeking out.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon delivers vibrant scents of baked black cherries, black currant pastilles and blackberry pie with hints of truffles, tapenade and tar. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegant and refreshing, offering bright crunchy black fruits and an earthy finish. Rating: 92+
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Situated in the southeastern corner of Napa Valley in the Vaca range, the vineyards of the Coombsville AVA enjoy a long growing season mitigated by cool, San Pablo Bay fog.