Joseph Phelps Backus Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
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Robert -
Suckling
James
Product Details
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Winemaker Notes
Blend: 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Looking at the Backus Vineyard, which was purchased by the Phelps team in 1996, this wine is a tiny production, single vineyard release that’s normally 85% or more Cabernet Sauvignon and small amounts of Malbec and Petite Verdot. The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Backus Vineyard is an incredible wine, and I suspect the finest of the three vintages reviewed here. Gorgeous blackcurrants, graphite, lead pencil, chocolate, and gravelly, earthy minerality all give way to a powerful, concentrated Cabernet that has flawless balance, building tannins, and a huge finish. Count yourself lucky if you have bottles of this in the cellar, as it’s going to offer up tons of pleasure over the coming three decades or more.
Rating: 98+
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Backus Vineyard is a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot, aged for 24 months in 100% new French oak and bottled in Jan 2019. Deep garnet-purple colored, it charges out of the gate with bold blackberry pie, black currant pastilles and warm blueberries notes with touches of menthol, mocha, cardamom, iron ore and cinnamon stick plus a waft of black olives. The full-bodied palate delivers mouth-coating black and blue fruits with a vast array of earth and spicy sparks, framed by firm, grainy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and mineral laced.
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James Suckling
Shows very ripe fruit and excitement on the nose with dark berries, blueberries and pine-needle undertones. Full-bodied, firm and chewy with a solid and rich finish. Seriously structured red here. Try it after 2022.
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Joseph Phelps Vineyards is a family-owned winery committed to crafting world class, estate-grown wines. Founded in 1973 when Joe Phelps purchased a former cattle ranch near St. Helena in the Napa Valley, the winery now controls and farms nearly 375 acres of vines on eight estate vineyards in St. Helena, the Stags Leap District, Oakville, Rutherford, Oak Knoll District, Carneros and South Napa Valley. In 1999, the Phelps family added 100 acres of vineyard property near the town of Freestone on the Sonoma Coast, where Phelps now grows Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Phelps is best known for its flagship Napa Valley blend of red Bordeaux varietals, Insignia, first produced in 1974. Awarded Wine Spectator's "Wine of the Year" in 2005, Insignia is widely regarded as a qualitative benchmark for California winemaking.