1994 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
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Tasting notes
The 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon has a deep brick color. Wow—what a nose! It comes charging out of the glass with mature, forthright notes of sandalwood, cigar box, powdered cinnamon, camphor and dried mulberries over a core of figs, prunes, gingerbread and kirsch with a waft of potpourri. Medium-bodied, the palate is an exercise in finesse, sporting exquisitely soft, silt-like tannins and seamless freshness to frame the intensely perfumed layers, finishing very long and very spicy.
Critic scores
The Wine Advocate
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
This is one of the great vintages of the 90s, and Spottswoode hit the bull’s-eye with this opaque, ruby/purple-colored wine that still has incredible youthfulness and vibrancy. Fabulous fruit intensity, blackcurrants, black cherries and blackberry, along with charcoal, chocolate and graphite, are all present in this superb, full-bodied, stunningly multidimensional wine that is only now approaching mid-adolescence at age 22. (RP)
Notably dark. Well balanced and integrated nose already. Layers of flavour – some tealeaf again – with real refreshment and delicacy. Bravo! Transparent and really lifted and elegant. Serious with that brine quality again. By no means obvious but rewarding. Appetising dry (as opposed to sweet) finish. (LM)
About the producer
Spottswoode is one of those rare Napa estates whose reputation rests less on volume or spectacle than on persistent exactitude. Set on the western edge of St Helena, where the Mayacamas rise and afternoon breezes temper the valley’s warmth, the vineyard occupies a favoured pocket of the appellation.