Winemaker Notes
The wine presents a deep, dark charcoal hue accented by touches of ruby and boysenberry; on the nose, it offers an inviting bouquet of chocolate-covered cherry layered with hints of geranium, graphite, pencil shavings, tobacco leaf, and licorice; the palate opens round and dense, evolving into a thick, velvety mid-palate with deeply integrated tannins and rich notes of ripe cassis and blueberry.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Hugely concentrated and woody, with impressive hints of cedar, clove, pencil and dried herb, this wine is lengthy and thick in dark brooding fruit. The power is wrapped in structure and freshness, allowing room for the wine to breathe and find balance. This is a good candidate for cellaring; enjoy best from 2028–2038.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Denali Vineyard has a very deep purple-black color, delivering pronounced, profound notes of black currant cordial, black berry pie and plum preserves with suggestions of charcoal, licorice, Indian spice and fertile loam, plus a waft of black tea. The medium to full-bodied palate has a rock-solid structure of super firm, super ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness supporting the muscular black fruits preserves flavors, finishing long and spicy.
Rating:95+ -
James Suckling
Blackberries, black mushrooms, bark and dried stems. Currants, too. Medium-bodied with fine tannins and a creamy texture. Very pretty and refined. Drink in 2023 and onwards.
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Wine Spectator
Fleshy and broad, with crushed plum, boysenberry and blackberry paste flavors laced liberally with warm earth, tobacco and licorice root notes. The finish is framed by elements of roasted cedar. Best from 2023 through 2032.
Wines, like people, are a reflection of their origin and evolution. The Debate are Napa Valley wines crafted by respected winemaker Jean Hoefliger (Lynch-Bages, Newton Vineyard, Alpha Omega, AXR, Harbison and many others). The Debate focuses on the unique terroirs of single vineyard sites for Cabernet Sauvignon & Cabernet Franc exclusively.
The Debate began in 2010 when two friends brought their unique perspectives together to create thought provoking and delicious wines that extend beyond the sense of taste to the thrill of telling stories and the art of listening. By selecting three different vineyards with three different expressions of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, the Debate seeks to point out the diversity of terroir as well as the diversity of people.
We live in an age where less and less time is spent at the dinner table discussing these different points of view. The Debate mission is to bring people together to share a glass of wine to discuss and debate just as our team does. Every vintage of The Debate is wrapped in newspaper with “The Debates” of the vintage. Whether its politics, sports, pop-culture or world events, you have the opportunity to reminisce a time, a place and a vintage in history with the people around you.
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.