2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
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Tasting notes
100% new French oak for 22 months. Deep purple. Vanilla-laced toasty blue- and black-fruited nose. Round tannin, dense extract, and a lengthy finish. Needs time. (SCJ)
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
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Memento Mori's flagship 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of lots from Dr. Crane, Las Piedras, Vine Hill Ranch, Weitz and Oakville Ranch. It manages the neat trick of being nicely perfumed and almost delicate yet concentrated, with classic Napa Cab aromas of black cherries, cassis, loam, mocha and cedary oak. It's full-bodied and silky textured, supremely elegant and finessed, seductive, yet it has the structure to age effortlessly for two decades or more.
There are around 1,000 cases of the flagship 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon (the other releases are in the range of 150-200 cases), and if you see a bottle, you should buy it. Absolutely incredible aromatics of ripe black and blue fruits, tobacco leaf, espresso roast, and violets give way to a full-bodied, majestic, multi-dimensional wine that has ultra-fine tannins, no hard edges, and riveting purity, focus, and precision. Give bottles 4-5 years to integrate its oak, and this beauty will shine over the following two decades or more.