The tannins, while mature, are still surprisingly present, and the core of acidity keeps every sip fresh and vibrant. This is starting to approach its fullest aromatic expression of maturity, the black plums anchored by scorched earth and licorice before flavors of brambly berries, currants, cocoa powder, pencil shavings, and a deep cut of mineral. The fruit is still singing yet the more mature characteristics have really come through, making this a fantastically balanced, uniquely delicious wine right now. It’s at a beguiling phase of evolution nearly 18 years on, with a concentrated yet silky palate that carries notes of blackberries and brandied cherries as well as more balsamic notes, singed sage, cigar tobacco, and a floral and cedar lift hovering above it all. I kept on think about that while savoring this 2003, a wine that, while it certainly has another 15 years of life in it, is drinking so brilliantly right now that I wouldn’t recommend waiting.
Deciding when to pop the cork from an older bottle is just as much about personal preference as it is about the potential longevity of a particular vintage. But that’s not necessarily a good idea unless you prefer fully mature wines. Too often, it’s tempting to hold onto a wine until the end of the recommended drinking window provided by whatever review you’re referencing. If you can wait, this wine will continue to offer greater and greater rewards through the early-2050s.
With air, the wine gains weight, texture, and lift, as well as notes of cocoa powder, sappy cherries, black currants, and flowers, all of it riding through the graphite-kissed finish. The spice and energy of the Stag’s Leap Vineyard shimmers through on this wonderfully subtle expression, the flamed orange oils, cedar, and tea framed by slightly more savory tannins that will benefit from a bit more time, or a good stint in the decanter. At more than six years of age, this is really starting to resolve nicely, and promises to keep on deepening for the next 20 years. The ripe, rich nose here is more exuberantly spiced than the 2018: Allspice, star anise, and clove dust brambly berry aromas and set the stage for a palate layered with blackberries, cherries and cherry pits, woodsy spices, cigar tobacco, and a hint of brown sugar. Enjoy this one now with air, or lay it down for the next 30 years. The long, mineral-flecked finish is ever-so-subtly lifted with the suggestion of candied violets. Cabernet Sauvignon 2018Īll of the generosity and grace I’ve come to expect of this spectacular vintage is on display here, with cassis and crushed blueberry aromas joined by a subtly floral lift before rich, energetic flavors of cassis, blueberries, vanilla, caramel, cedar, and cafe mocha. over the years, but considering these half-dozen wines side by side threw everything that makes it so extraordinary into shimmeringly sharp relief. I had been fortunate enough to enjoy a glass or three of older S.L.V. In the case of this particular wine-certainly a hero in the American wine firmament-tasting through these incredible vintages had the opposite effect: If anything. There’s an old cliché that says you should never meet your heroes, because disappointment often ensues. Cabernet Sauvignon, across vintages, to be appealing in their youth and have the ability to age with grace. In the case of this wine, experiencing these specific vintages accomplished both with exuberance and profundity. There are countless benefits to tasting through multiple decades of a single wine, not least of which is the ability to understand how a particular vineyard site expresses itself over the years and through all kinds of vintage conditions, as well as how the guiding philosophy of a particular producer does or does not change over the years and decades. last autumn, it was an opportunity to not just savor some fantastic wines, but also to contextualize them each in relation to one another, and to their neighbors. When I personally had the opportunity to taste through a vertical of S.L.V.
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