Professional Ratings

• 96 Jeb Dunnuck
  The 2006 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a dense, powerhouse of a wine that still holds onto the terrific sense of elegance and balance that this estate always seems to deliver. Tons of blackcurrants, sweet tobacco, cigar wrapper, and bouquet garni-like notes give way to a deep, dense, still incredibly concentrated 2006 that has a wealth of raw material, building yet sweet tannins, and a great finish. With notable purity as well as balance, it’s certainly in its drink window, yet I suspect it will easily keep for another 2-3 decades or more. It’s well worth seeking out and will stand up with the best Napa Cabernet.
• 95 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, which has taken on much greater complexity and intensity since I tasted it right after bottling, is largely all Cabernet Sauvignon with just a small amount of Cabernet Franc in the blend. The owner's daughter, Beth Novak, and her assistants, Rosemary Cakebread and Jennifer Williams, made an intelligent decision in bottling this wine later than normal to resolve some of the tannin issues, and they have certainly succeeded. This wine, which I believe will evolve for 25 or more years, has a gorgeous nose of violets, black currants, licorice, camphor, and a hint of graphite. Layered, rich, and full-bodied, the wine has an opaque purple color as well as wonderful purity and balance. It could be considered the wine world’s version of haute couture at a top address in Paris. It’s a beauty, perfectly balanced and as flawless and seamless as a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa can be. Drink it over the next 25 years.
• 94 Connoisseurs' Guide
  Deep and defined but lifted by a sense of precision and wine-making polish that sets it apart from the crowd, Spottswoode's latest is a rich and well-crafted wine that tempers appropriate tannins with lots of incisive varietal fruit. Its touches of dust and complementary oak spice herald increased complexity with age, and, while five or six years in bottle will see it bloom nicely, it is built to improve for many years more.
• 92 Wine Spectator
  Drying herb, mineral and graphite join grilled meat and dried currant in this taut, tannic, structured and backward youngster. Firmly tannic and chewy, very concentrated and tightly wound. Best from 2011 through 2018.