Winemaker Notes
The goal for this namesake wine is working with To Kalon Vineyard as a whole, crafting a wine from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, while capturing the purity, intensity, and diversity of this special terroir. With soft tannins, plenty of structure, richness, and aromatic excitement, this wine tells the story of the nearly ideal 2018 growing season. The grapes were harvested at night to preserve the freshness of the fruit. Careful sorting and a long, slow fermentation and maceration round out the wine and bring forward the broad spectrum of flavors and aromas inherent in this noble variety.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Blackberries and lead pencil with asphalt, spice and violets. This is medium-to full-bodied with linear and very long tannins that go on and on. Racy and refined, with strength at the same time. Closed and tight now. Hints of toasted oak at the end. Give it time to show its greatness. Pure cabernet sauvignon. Best After 2025.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Highest Beauty is pure brilliance and ranks with the finest wines of the vintage. This is a tiny production cuvée made with the idea of producing the best wine possible from the vineyard, and where most To Kalon lean toward the more powerful, sexy end of the spectrum, this beauty has an almost Pauillac-like style in its pure cassis, graphite, tobacco leaf, and lead pencil-like aromas and flavors. With fine tannins, medium to full-bodied richness, and just about flawless balance, it has the vibrancy, purity, and structure that makes this vintage so special. This will most likely flirt with perfection in 5-6 years and should have 25+ years of overall longevity. Rating: 98+
-
Wine Spectator
This has a pretty gorgeous core of dark plum, blackberry and black currant confiture notes that roll through slowly but surely, with a dark loamy accent for support and a backdrop of singed alder, sweet bay leaf and tobacco. Reveals a nice buried iron edge, too. Classic Oakville.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Highest Beauty features a delicately lifted, minty aspect to the nose, along with classic notes of cassis and cedar—like all the To Kalon Vineyard Company wines, it was matured in 100% new French oak. It's medium to full-bodied, not overly rich or extracted, velvety and almost too easy to drink, showing a slight lack of richness on the mid-palate, yet finishing strong, with ample intensity and length. Best After 2023.
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.