2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
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Tasting Notes
This shows a very compact palate with superb complexity and precision with aromas and flavors ranging from blackberries and black truffles to black tea and wet earth. It’s full-bodied and finely grained with a light, woody complexity underneath it all. Extremely long and persistent on the palate. Drink or hold.
Critic Scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Another perfect wine is the 2012 Screaming Eagle which checks in as 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc. While just as good as the 2013, it’s made in a very different style and has a lush, opulent, sexy profile as well as the hallmark crème de cassis, white flowers, graphite and spice. With a silky, full-bodied, seamless texture, incredible complexity, ultra-fine tannin, and blockbuster length, this quintessential Screaming Eagle will continue drinking beautifully for 20-25 years.
The perfect 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Screaming Eagle is composed of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Made in the classic, iconic Screaming Eagle style that the original proprietress, Jean Philipps, first showcased in the early 1990s, before the winery was sold to Stan Kroenke, the inky/purple-colored, seamless 2012 possesses an extraordinary set of aromatics consisting of pure blackcurrant liqueur, licorice, acacia flowers, graphite and a subtle hint of new oak. Full-bodied, opulent and voluptuous, this profound wine is as prodigious as I thought it would be last year when tasted from barrel. It should age effortlessly for 20 or more years.
Bright medium ruby. Very deep aromas of blueberry, flowers, licorice and wild herbs show a medicinal reserve. Thick but vibrant, with deep, fully ripe, layered flavors of blackberry and blueberry syrup and graphite minerality dominating the middle palate. Offers compelling sappiness and definition. Noble tannins spread out to saturate the entire palate on the inexorable, steadily building finish. Still an infant but utterly seamless from the outset.
About the producer
Screaming Eagle is one of the Napa Valley’s original cult Cabernets. Right from the first release, the now iconic producer garnered huge scores and a fanatic following.