Eisele Vineyard - Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The very deep, purple-black colored 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. It takes a fair amount of swirling to unlock an incredibly intense nose of dark chocolate, warm cassis, baked plums and Morello cherries plus touches of red roses, violets, pencil shavings, cinnamon stick and dusty soil with a hint of iron ore. The full-bodied palate is so exquisitely elegant, charged with electric black and red fruits and a firm frame of super-ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing very long and very perfumed. This is pure energy in a glass!"

JAMES SUCKLING: "Blackberry, dried-blueberry, bitter-chocolate and some volcanic-ash and burnt-orange aromas. Crushed stone and subtle vanilla notes, too. It’s full-bodied with firm, chewy tannins framing a deep core of dark fruit. Dense, muscular and firmly structured. So long. Goes on for minutes. Elegance with power. Really love the beautiful refinement and integrity to this. Captures the essence of the vintage. Try from 2025."

LISA PERROTTI-BROWN: "The 2018 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon has a deep garnet-purple color. It is shut tight to begin, needing a lot of swirling to coax out fragrant notes of black cherries, freshly crushed blackcurrants, and mulberries, giving way to notes of iris bulb, black soil, molten licorice, and crushed rocks. The full-bodied palate is very taut, tightly wound, and muscular with firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and earthy."

JEB DUNNUCK: "The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is another brilliant wine from this estate. Lots of smoky currants, tobacco, graphite, and spicy notes define the aromatics, and it's concentrated and layered on the palate, with beautiful yet building tannins as well as a crushed rock-like sense of minerality. I love its mid-palate depth, it's flawlessly balanced, and it has a great finish. It shows the seamless, incredibly layered style that this terroir always seems to yield, and while it's beautiful today, 3-5 years of bottle age are warranted."

WINE SPECTATOR: "A benchmark for the vintage, thanks to its gorgeous display of warm cassis, mulled plum and macerated blackberry fruit stitched with subtle loam, juniper and bay leaf accents, in a reserved style. Warm earth tones reverberate through the lengthy finish, dovetailing perfectly with the suave fruit. A real beauty. Best from 2023 through 2040. 1,790 cases made."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Currently in an introspective phase. Wait a few more years before opening to allow the wine to become naturally more expressiveness. Notes of pink and white grapefruit, cocoa nib, plum skin, graphite and cracked pine emerge with air. There is a very good architectural focus to the vintage, with balance and a lot of length. The details are still coming into view but everything is here for a beautiful wine. Nice freshness, a lot of persistence: fine-grained tannin balanced with mouth-watering acidity for a lot of length. Leave it patiently in the cellar before opening for a lovely vintage."