Winemaker Notes
This marks the 10th vintage we’ve worked with this site and the quality of farming has increased exponentially. All the credit goes to the team at Turnbull who made improving this site their primary mission over the last 5 years. We thought we had found the high-water mark with the 2016 but I’d place this wine (and the 2019 still in barrel) above that wine. There’s more completeness here even with the immense tannin of the vintage. This vintage grabs you from first glance with a saturated garnet/black complexion that extends to the thinnest of clear rim. The aromatics are classic high-end Cabernet with notes of cassis, creosote, saddle leather and blackberries. The tannins come up early but are quickly buffered by the sweet blue and black fruit with some savory elements of dried herbs, licorice and graphite. No longer the brutish cousin to the velvety Materium, this Amoenus deserves a stage of its own.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Looking at the two 2018s, the 2018 Amoenus comes from the Blossom Creek Vineyard outside of Calistoga and was brought up in new French oak. Both 2018s are concentrated, powerful wines. The Amoenus possesses a beautiful sense of freshness and purity, yet backs that up with a huge, opulent profile that carries incredible black and blue fruits. Showing more chocolate, tobacco, graphite, and foresty, earthy notes with air, this full-bodied beauty has ample ripe, polished tannins, no hard edges, and a great finish. It certainly shows the more brooding, backward, powerful style of the vintage and is built for the long haul. Hide bottle for 5-7 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following 40 years or so.
Rating: 98+ -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Amoenus Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple colored, it comes galloping out of the glass with energetic crème de cassis and blueberry pie scents, with hints of Indian spices, eucalyptus and chocolate box plus a waft of iron ore. Full-bodied, concentrated and wonderfully decadent, it has a firm, grainy texture and lively line of freshness, finishing long and minerally.
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.
Home to some of the most sought-after Cabernet Sauvignon in America, Napa Valley’s Oakville district stretches across the center of Napa's valley floor and foothills between the Vaca and Mayacamas Mountains. This AVA is home to the legendary To Kalon Vineyard and Martha's Vineyard, as well as many powerhouse wineries including Screaming Eagle, Silver Oak, Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Far Niente and Groth.
The climate is generally warm and agreeable, resulting in year after year of favorable vintages. Summer days see a gentle tug of war between warmer inland air and the cool air coming in from the San Pablo Bay, creating an ideal environment to grow red varieties. Oakville's diverse soils, namely ancient sea bedrock, clay and gravel, are well-drained, and perfect for high-caliber viticulture.
Cabernet here is often bottled varietally but is also popular in Bordeaux Blends. Oakville wines are known for their silky, sensual textures, structured tannins, dark and brooding fruit and lovely aromatics. These age-worthy and prestigious wines are favored by collectors throughout the world.