2017 Daou Soul of a Lion
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Tasting notes
Glass-staining ruby. Powerful, oak-tinged black currant, cherry, candied rose, pipe tobacco and mocha scents are accompanied by succulent herb and mineral flourishes. Sappy and seamless on the palate, offering deeply concentrated but energetic bitter cherry, dark berry liqueur, vanilla and licorice flavors that unfurl slowly through the midpalate. Youthful but well-knit tannins frame an extremely long, sweet finish that features resonating spice, mineral and floral notes. The interplay of power and finesse here is quite marvelous.
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
From Daniel Daou who, with his brother Georges, acquired the old Hoffman Mountain Ranch property in Paso Robles and showed what Cabernet could do in a region more readily assocated with Zinfandel and Rhône varieties. Unnecessarily heavy, embossed bottle. 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot grown at 700 m in the heart of the Adelaida District. The grapes were kept on the vine right through til the third week of October and aged for 22 months in 100% new French oak. Never acidified. Smells leathery and herbal and then on the palate it's really very sweet and almost like milk chocolate but there is quite enough acidity and this is a great counterpoint to the vogue for fresh, light reds. Here's a wine to make people take Paso Robles really seriously. Though it's just a little leathery in texture on the very end. No shortage of ambition. Many tasters will adore this. (JR)
Inky ruby. Primary dark berry, cherry pit and pipe tobacco aromas are complemented by hints of vanillin oak, mocha and baking spices. Broad and fleshy in the mouth, offering sweet black cherry and cassis flavors and suggestions of dark chocolate, espresso and vanilla. Becomes smokier with air and finishes with superb clarity and strong, spicy persistence. (raised in new French oak barrels for 22 months)
The 2017 Soul Of A Lion is a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc and 8% Petit Verdot aged 22 months in 100% new French oak. It has a deep ruby-purple color and wonderfully unique expression, with scents of forest floor, underbrush, English breakfast tea, espresso, blackcurrant bud, dark chocolate and exotic flowers mingling over a core of perfectly ripe wild blackberries and Morello cherries, all complemented by a classy framing of new oak spices. The medium to full-bodied palate is slow to unfurl, with a frame like liquid silk and a very long finish that gives up layer after layer of nuanced flavors. Wow!