Winemaker Notes
This is a muscular, well-structured wine that is still only in its infancy. However the tannins are fine tuned and silky. Toasty oak frames a solid core of ripe black fruit, herbs and spice notes. Beautifully balanced, it hits all the right notes on the palate, finishing long, with great elegance.
This wine is Kosher for Passover
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This is very solid, with cassis, blackberry and plum paste flavors forming the core, while singed alder and tobacco accents hang in the background. Has cut and drive on the finish, with a late twang of iron giving it some cut. Kosher. Drink now through 2028. 1,000 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon was aged in 40% new French oak for 18 months and comes in at 14.8% alcohol. This is the first vintage of this pricey Cab, the grape for which Covenant is most known in its California operation, the winery says. The grapes were sourced from the Golan Heights (Tel Faris vineyard). Big, fruity and understandably a little tight at age two, this is not a wine that as yet expresses the grape terribly well. That said, a better expression of the grape may yet come. When the wood is pulled in—it mutes the grape just now, even if it does not overwhelm it—and this has a few years of age on it, maybe we will see some more classic Cabernet nuances and a bit more finesse. The structure certainly seems very good, which should allow this to age a reasonable amount time.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon offers a pleasing soft touch on the palate and in the finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits ripe currants and dried herbs. Pair it with sautéed wild mushrooms in a red wine reduction sauce. (Tasted: July 16, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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.