Tasting Notes

WA95

The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, which has taken on much greater complexity and intensity since I tasted it right after bottling, is largely all Cabernet Sauvignon with just a small amount of Cabernet Franc in the blend. The owner's daughter, Beth Novak, and her assistants, Rosemary Cakebread and Jennifer Williams, made an intelligent decision in bottling this wine later than normal to resolve some of the tannin issues, and they have certainly succeeded. This wine, which I believe will evolve for 25 or more years, has a gorgeous nose of violets, black currants, licorice, camphor, and a hint of graphite. Layered, rich, and full-bodied, the wine has an opaque purple color as well as wonderful purity and balance. It could be considered the wine world’s version of haute couture at a top address in Paris. It’s a beauty, perfectly balanced and as flawless and seamless as a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa can be. Drink it over the next 25 years.

CG94

Deep and defined but lifted by a sense of precision and wine-making polish that sets it apart from the crowd, Spottswoode's latest is a rich and well-crafted wine that tempers appropriate tannins with lots of incisive varietal fruit. Its touches of dust and complementary oak spice herald increased complexity with age, and, while five or six years in bottle will see it bloom nicely, it is built to improve for many years more.

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