Ulysses Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
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Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
With black tea leaf and brioche, Ulysses 2017 delivers dense layers of deep cherry, balsamic, peat, forest berries and fresh walnut, woven through a finely grained texture, and a lingering warm cacao powder finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Extremely aromatic with crushed berries, currants, flowers and hints of uncured tobacco leaf. Carnations. Medium to full body and extremely fine tannins that are firm and polished. Vertical tannins draw you down. Some blanched-walnut character to the blue fruit. Fresh and clean at the finish. Release in spring 2020. So beautiful to drink now.
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Wine Spectator
This is packed with the ripe, vivid fruit of the vintage, sporting intense cassis, raspberry and blackberry flavors allied to prodigious structure in the form of licorice root and roasted apple wood notes. Rippling with muscle through the finish, but without being domineering, showing focus and detail. Like a Richard Serra, this is seemingly immense at first glance, but steadily pulls you in with its details. Best from 2022 through 2038.
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Wine & Spirits
Now the Oakville brother to Christian Moueix’s Dominus Estate in Yountville, Ulysses grows on a parallel benchland site up-valley, though the dry-farmed vines in Oakville do not share the almost imperceptible Yountville slope. The soil is deep, gravelly clay loam, the vines yielding a wine that’s firm, lean and fragrant. In 2017, the energy of the wine is at the service of its simple flavors, youthfully black in its grape-skin tannins, needing bottle age to grow more expressive.
Other Vintages
2019-
Dunnuck
Jeb - Vinous
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
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James -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
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James -
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Robert -
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Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
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Spirits
Wine &
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Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
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Suckling
James - Decanter
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Parker
Robert
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Suckling
James - Decanter
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Robert
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Robert
Ulysses vineyard is situated along Napa Valley's Oakville bench at the foot of the Mayacamas range. This historic vineyard was part of the original Charles Hopper Ranch in the 1800's and was purchased by Christian Moueix in 2008. Since then, we have undertaken meticulous vineyard restoration, carefully studying the gravelly, clay loam soils and the property's microclimates. As part of our efforts toward sustainability and envirnonmental stewardship, we dry farm to enhance root depth and resistance to drought as well as to further develop in our wine the character of an exceptional terroir.
About the name
Homer's Odyssey is the epic tale of Ulysses who, after the Trojan War, travails to return to his homeland and family, a voyage of ten years. Christian Moueix, inspired by Ulysses' unending devotion to his quest, embarks on a new journey to produce a distinctive wine from the Ulysses vineyard in Oakville.
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.