Winemaker Notes
The 2022 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon shows youthful tannins, bursting with wild strawberries, marionberries, and violets on the palate. Layers of graham cracker baking spice, cocoa powder, and toasted spice draw you in. A slight salinity ties it together.
Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Recently released (September 2025), Spottswoode's 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon is perhaps slightly bigger than usual for this property but still retains a sense of freshness. Loaded with cassis and blackberries, it's full-bodied, plush and voluptuous, yet also long and mouthwatering on the finish. Wonderfully forward but balanced, the juicy fruit is successfully framed by silky, soft tannins.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A solid step up, with more density and depth, the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is based on 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot and aged 20 months in 62% new oak. Ripe blackcurrants, mulberries, spicy wood, graphite, and floral notes all shine here, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a pure, layered, seamless mouthfeel, plenty of mid-palate depth, and outstanding length.
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Vinous
The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon is a wonderfully classy, polished wine. Today, the 2022 comes across as a bit soft, but it is such a charmer. Rose petal, bright red cherry/plum fruit, cedar and mocha build nicely in the glass. This comes across as a bit quiet, but all the estate signatures are present. It's an exquisite wine from Spottswoode.
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Wine Enthusiast
Floral aromas join a complex of red berries and purple plums on the nose of this wine. The palate reveals cassis, cedar, a pleas- ing earthiness, and a graphite finish. Tannins the tex- ture of sheer velvet maintain an open weave. creating a Cabernet Sauvignon that is both plush and poised.
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Wine Spectator
Delivers seductive flavors of mulberry, boysenberry and blackberry compote, along with gently singed alder, anise and black tea notes, plus flashes of iris and ink. Shows the more sedate energy of the vintage, but with range, form and definition. An impressive effort. Drink now through 2035.
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James Suckling
Very fruity and generous, bursting with cherries, blackberries and raspberries on the nose, and creamy blueberries and strawberries on the palate. Toast, cedar and savory nuances come out with more sips. Full-bodied, long and rich. Rather soft tannins. Drink or hold.
Spottswoode is an historic, family-owned estate vineyard and winery located on the western edge of St. Helena in Napa Valley. The estate was established in 1882 by George Schonewald, whose historic Victorian home is depicted on the label. Spottswoode was christened by Mrs. Albert Spotts, whose family owned the property from 1910 until its purchase in 1972 by Mary Weber Novak and her husband, Dr. Jack Novak. After Jack died unexpectedly in 1977, Mary carried out their shared dream, and Spottswoode’s debut Cabernet Sauvignon was produced in 1982, exactly one hundred years after the estate’s founding.
To ensure the highest quality, Spottswoode is dedicated to producing a handful of wines in very limited quantities: Spottswoode Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Lyndenhurst, and Field Book. The winery's goal is to produce exceptional, well-balanced, structured wines that exhibit texture, elegance, consistency and the ability to age well.
The 40-acre Spottswoode Estate Vineyard is an ideal terroir for growing wine grapes. Situated on the apex of the Sulphur Creek fan, the alluvial soils comprised primarily of sandy clay loam provide superb drainage. The gap between the Mayacamas Range and Spring Mountain admits cooling maritime breezes that temper the sun’s heat, creating an ideal microclimate for winegrowing. Among the first to introduce organic farming practices in the Napa Valley in 1985, Spottswoode is proud to have enjoyed the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) certification since 1992 and Demeter Biodynamic Certification since 2020. Spottswoode is also Napa Valley’s first Certified B-Corp winery.
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.