Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
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Wong
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Enthusiast
Wine - Decanter
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Suckling
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Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
My #1 Wine of the Year: The 2014 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon may be one of the vintage's best wines. On this day, I tasted nearly 100 of some of the best Cabernets from the Americas, and this wine stood alone as if there were no other wines in the room. This wine opens up with delightful and distinctive aromas of red to black fruits, a dusting of cocoa powder to capture me under its spell. Its palate is layered and superbly structured. The sweet tannins keep it all together before its crescendo of a long, lasting, and memorable finish. (Tasted: October 30, 2017, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
This remarkable wine from the famed familyfarmed, organic estate impresses immediately in its depth of concentration and stately grace, imparting a wealth of rose-garden compost and wild truffle on the nose. Within the vibrant range of sensual flavor is salted caramel, black cherry and chocolate, alongside a twist of saddle and campfire coffee. Its grip of focused tannin suggests years of aging potential; enjoy best from
Cellar Selection -
Decanter
Under winemaker Aron Weinkauf, Spottswoode is producing more classical wines than ever, and the 2014 is one of the most tensile, tight-knit benchland Cabernets of the vintage. A classy bouquet of crushed cassis, damson, graphite and spice, subtly framed by new oak, is followed by a taut, firm palate with a serious chassis of fine but abundant tannins, and a lovely line of acidity that lends this Cabernet amazing length. Great concentration and incipient complexity; this just needs time. Drinking Window 2024 - 2060
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James Suckling
Amazing burnt-orange and currant aromas with tar and lead pencil. Blackberries, too. Changes all the time. Mesmerizing. Full-bodied and powerful with super-polished tannins and a long and intense finish. The polished and fine tannins coat your mouth. Glorious. Needs three to four years to soften.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Dark ruby in color, with just a bit of lightening at the rim, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon offers up striking aromas of damp moss, loam and black cherries, framed by hints of cedar and vanilla. It's medium to full-bodied, rich and velvety in feel, with a long, complex finish redolent of dried spices. It should drink well for at least another decade, probably more. Best After 2018
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is another elegant, yet powerful wine from this estate. Made from 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot, its saturated purple color is followed by classic Cabernet notes of crème de cassis, violets, hints of tobacco leaf, bouquet garni, and a beautiful minerality that develops as the wine sits in the glass. Full-bodied, concentrated, and impeccably balanced, it lacks the Wow factor of the 2013 and 2015, yet is a classic and textbook as they come. Drink it anytime over the coming three decades.
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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.
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.
St. Helena is in the heart of the Napa Valley, nestled between Calistoga to the north and Rutherford on its southern border. On its western side, the Mayacamas Mountains guard it from the cooling effects of the Pacific Ocean; to its east stand the Vaca Mountains. In conjunction, these mountain ranges serve to lock in summer daytime heat. But in the evening, cool air from the San Pablo Bay funnels up through the valley, creating very chilly nights. It isn’t uncommon for temperatures to drop 50 degrees, a shift that promotes a balance of sugar ripeness and acidity in wine grapes.
St. Helena contains a plethora of different soil types in a small area, which have been enhanced over centuries by rain runoff from both mountain ranges. Its vineyards cover a variety of terrain, spreading across the bucolic valley floor and its benchlands.
These ideal topographic and climatic growing conditions easily caught the attention of early winemaking pioneers. In fact, St. Helena is the birthplace of Napa Valley’s commercial wine industry. Dr. Crane founded his cellar in 1859, David Fulton in 1860 and Charles Krug in 1861.
Today there are no less than 400 separate vineyards planted within the 12,000 acres that make up the St. Helena appellation.
Revered most for its red wines based on Bordeaux varieties, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, the St. Helena appellation is also a source of superior Syrah, Zinfandel and Sauvignon blanc.