Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon 2018  £92.50

Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

The 2018 growing season in Napa Valley was marked by cool, mild weather. The cooler than normal spring delayed bud break, bloom and veraison by two weeks compared to the previous several years. The mild weather pattern in August and September allowed for an extended hang time during harvest allowing exceptional and complex flavour development and overall fruit quality for the vintage.

The wine was aged for eighteen months in 40% new oak (49% French, 51% American) and 60% one- to two-year-old French and American barrels before bottling. The coopers included Ermitage, François Frères, Demptos (French & American), Canton (American), Dargaud Jaegle, Orion and Taransaud.

A wine of great energy, length, and finesse, 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon opens with floral notes, cedar and pencil shavings followed by ripe blackberry, cassis and red currant jam. A fresh and focused wine with pleasing acid and tannin structure building tension along the palate to a lingering finish.

92+ Points - Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple coloured, it does pirouettes out of the glass with notes of crushed blackberries, wild blueberries and ripe blackcurrants plus hints of lilacs, menthol, forest floor and pencil shavings with a touch of wild sage. Medium-bodied, the palate is as intense as it is elegant, featuring layers of fresh black and blue fruits and gentle herbal accents, framed by firm, grainy tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and minerally. -LPB, (Nov. 2020)