Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
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Product Details
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Winemaker Notes
Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
One of the wines of the vintage, as well as a legendary Napa Cabernet that will compete with anything out there, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate reveals a deep purple hue as well as extraordinary notes of pure crème de cassis and blackberry-scented fruits intermixed with lots tobacco leaf, lead pencil, spice, and hints of flowers. Reminding me of the 2016 with its purity as well as its balance, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a layered, seamless texture, and a blockbuster of a finish. Based on 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot, this is a wine you don’t want to miss! It’s going to take 7-8 years to hit its early drinking plateau and cruise for 30-40 years in cold cellars.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Spottswoode Family Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon—the vineyard has been organically farmed since 1985, CCOF certified since 1992, biodynamically farmed since 2008, and Demeter certified in January 2021—is a remarkable story. I have tasted every vintage since the winery's first offering with the 1982 vintage. TASTING NOTES: This wine is greater than the sum of its parts. I paired it with two distinctly different dishes: a traditional prime rib and a super delicious Pho (with thinly-sliced rare roast beef, tendons, brisket, tripe, as well as the usual pho spices) and both matches worked well. Enjoy this wine's perfectly ripened fruit, fragrant herbs, complementary supple tannins, and balanced alcohol with more than just meat and potatoes. Be adventurous! (Tasted: December 2, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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Tasting Panel
Believing that the 2018 vintage was ideal, winemaker Aron Weinkauf claims that “our hand was never forced” when it came to picking, “so we were able to achieve pinpoint accuracy in terms of ripeness and flavor development.” Ideal it is. Aromas of ripe plum, red tea, and tomato leaf are exuberant. Dry, powdery tannins seamlessly meld with the plush fruit, urging black cherry and black raspberry out to perform with self-assurance. Stoniness augments orange peel and Earl Grey within the wine’s luxurious flow.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Clearly a stupendous effort but just far too young at this stage, Spottswoode's 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon boasts a concentrated, velvety core of black cherries, cassis and dusty loam, then supports it with hints of cedar and toasted oak. It's full-bodied, rich and youthfully intense, with a long, compelling finish that just won't quit. Give it a few more years, and it may indeed reach the perfection my predecessor predicted for it. Best After 2025. Rating: 97+
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Wine Spectator
Very pure, with a piercing edge to its racy cassis, plum and blackberry coulis flavors, this moves along authoritatively while staying relatively light on its feet, with violet, savory and iron threads lining the mouthwatering finish. Beautifully rendered wine that should age gracefully. Best from 2022 through 2040.
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James Suckling
This has a polished nose of black cherry, blueberry pie, vanilla and crushed gravel. Evolves to charred wood and dried lavender. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, sleek tannins. There’s freshness to the finish with hints of blackcurrant leaf. Structured and still tight. Try from 2023.
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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.