A concentrated, bold Napa Valley Cab with layers upon layers of crème de cassis, sweet oak, caramel, cocoa. Lots of tannins, high acidity, good length. The magic is not yet here, but the quality is undeniable. Needs 5-10 years or may be even more than that.
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Great dark fruits - sweet tannins that linger (for more than a minute.) Dark Chocolate (definitely eat dark chocolate with this!) blackberries, blueberries. This is still very youthful without much tertiary notes. I will definitely save some of this for the next decade just to see how it evolves. Drink or Hold.
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A lovely full bodied Napa cab. Rich chocolate, velvety and creamy taste, with long finish. Great balace of alcohol and tannin. This is a wine as good as the Screaming Eagle, definitely a notch above Harlan, Hundred Acre or Colgin.
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I loved this, but suspect it will improve and age gracefully for a number of years. Smooth, with plenty of red and blue fruit. Slightly acidic, which is perhaps why my wife was less of a fan of this, but will revisit in a few years.
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Decanted 8 hours. Was still going strong after 10 hours. Superbly complex fruit both on the nose and in the mouth, long finish. Just stunning. Drink with meat dishes.
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Not a lot of formal notes since it was a long lineup and this was the last bottle but it was surprisingly open for such a young wine. The cassis, forest and graphite notes stood out! Pnp basically
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Being fairly new to Schrader, I decided to try one of these after opening a bottle of the 2018 CCS about a month prior to see how this producer's wines stack up. Compared to the CCS's bigger, richer, darker, nuttier profile, this was downright elegant. Although still a big wine that is clearly identifiable as a cab from Napa, this was hitting some high fruit tones and felt less heavy on the palate. I also noticed more apparent structure to the wine and a round, extremely concentrated mid-palate, leading me to believe this will age remarkably well. That said, I was surprised at how nicely this is drinking young, so choose your own adventure with this one. I like it a lot.
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Decided to try one. Surprised at how this showed, more open and fruit forward than expected as most schrader’s need some time. Purple fruits with some faint tobacco /earth. Dense and tasty. Tasted against 15 carter bam and outshined on midpalate, with both wines great but schrader showing more depth. Definitely worth popping one now if you have a few to compare this young wine vs some age. Is 18 this good of a vintage?
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This rich and powerful Cabernet obviously needs more time, and I clearly shouldn't have opened it... but... sometimes (though not usually) fortune favors the impatient. This is a mouthful of a wine, an onslaught of fruit, tannin, and acidity that is as subtle as a firehose. For those seeking something settled, integrated, and polite, look elsewhere, at least for now. This wine bursts with plushness, energy, and precision, in what I’m starting to think is a fantastic vintage (or at least one that drinks well early), and it should be remarkable in a few years.
Dark red in color, full in body, explosive aromas of chocolate covered cherry, espresso bean, graphite, and crushed rock. Surprisingly plush flavors of blueberry pie, worn leather, cocoa beans, and dried oregano. The finish starts out prickly and dry, but it gains a silky sweetness with air that makes it go down (oh so) smoothly. 14.6% alcohol. Clone 337. Decant three hours if drinking now, but a rational consumer would wait until 2022 or later.
Then again, a rational consumer didn’t open this wine tonight; instead, you’ve got me! Full disclosure, aside from being curious (and impatient), I appreciate young wine, not just for its potential but also for its raw exuberance, lightning in a bottle, all that. After tasting the 2012 RBS tonight as well, I trust the 2018 will shed its baby fat and eventually show more BTK elegance. Until then, though, this wine has a loud combination of density, complexity, and power that make it quite appealing, at least to me. 95 at the moment, with upside as the years go on.
2/12/2024 - rnjbond wrote: 92 Points
Napa and Sonoma, January 2024: Part of a tasting at the tasting room.
Notes of red plum, blueberry, walnut. Fruit-forward on the palette. Definitely would benefit from more time in the bottle, but already drinking well.
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1/21/2024 - Plabella Likes this wine: 100 Points
exquisite wine great fruit full body well balanced
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1/4/2024 - IvanLi Likes this wine: 95 Points
A concentrated, bold Napa Valley Cab with layers upon layers of crème de cassis, sweet oak, caramel, cocoa. Lots of tannins, high acidity, good length. The magic is not yet here, but the quality is undeniable.
Needs 5-10 years or may be even more than that.
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12/17/2023 - Stonger the Better Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very good but the tannins are still imposing. Wait a few more years…or at least decant much longer than an hour.
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11/24/2023 - EyeDoc wrote: 97 Points
Great dark fruits - sweet tannins that linger (for more than a minute.) Dark Chocolate (definitely eat dark chocolate with this!) blackberries, blueberries. This is still very youthful without much tertiary notes. I will definitely save some of this for the next decade just to see how it evolves. Drink or Hold.
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7/13/2023 - d.f.c Likes this wine: 96 Points
A lovely full bodied Napa cab. Rich chocolate, velvety and creamy taste, with long finish. Great balace of alcohol and tannin. This is a wine as good as the Screaming Eagle, definitely a notch above Harlan, Hundred Acre or Colgin.
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12/25/2022 - sonodoc Likes this wine: 96 Points
I loved this, but suspect it will improve and age gracefully for a number of years. Smooth, with plenty of red and blue fruit. Slightly acidic, which is perhaps why my wife was less of a fan of this, but will revisit in a few years.
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12/4/2022 - popasq Likes this wine: 97 Points
Did not decant, this was as expected outstanding.
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7/29/2022 - cab blends wrote: 94 Points
Blind tasting at home; 7/29/2022-7/30/2022: Purple in color and extremely dark and rich.
Classic Napa bomb.
The tannins start but then are restrained which is interesting - many years to go for this.
Blue fruits in the back end.
After the reveal, I was surprised and had expected more from this wine - but it was the first bottle I had opened.
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4/30/2022 - happy712 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Decanted 8 hours. Was still going strong after 10 hours. Superbly complex fruit both on the nose and in the mouth, long finish. Just stunning. Drink with meat dishes.
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11/16/2021 - Ronreid54 wrote:
WS 96
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7/12/2021 - Myman24 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Not a lot of formal notes since it was a long lineup and this was the last bottle but it was surprisingly open for such a young wine. The cassis, forest and graphite notes stood out! Pnp basically
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3/9/2021 - Hon. Uncle Phil Likes this wine: 96 Points
Being fairly new to Schrader, I decided to try one of these after opening a bottle of the 2018 CCS about a month prior to see how this producer's wines stack up. Compared to the CCS's bigger, richer, darker, nuttier profile, this was downright elegant. Although still a big wine that is clearly identifiable as a cab from Napa, this was hitting some high fruit tones and felt less heavy on the palate. I also noticed more apparent structure to the wine and a round, extremely concentrated mid-palate, leading me to believe this will age remarkably well. That said, I was surprised at how nicely this is drinking young, so choose your own adventure with this one. I like it a lot.
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2/20/2021 - beau11 wrote: 98 Points
Decided to try one. Surprised at how this showed, more open and fruit forward than expected as most schrader’s need some time. Purple fruits with some faint tobacco
/earth. Dense and tasty. Tasted against 15 carter bam and outshined on midpalate, with both wines great but schrader showing more depth. Definitely worth popping one now if you have a few to compare this young wine vs some age. Is 18 this good of a vintage?
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11/13/2020 - msuwine wrote: 95 Points
This rich and powerful Cabernet obviously needs more time, and I clearly shouldn't have opened it... but... sometimes (though not usually) fortune favors the impatient. This is a mouthful of a wine, an onslaught of fruit, tannin, and acidity that is as subtle as a firehose. For those seeking something settled, integrated, and polite, look elsewhere, at least for now. This wine bursts with plushness, energy, and precision, in what I’m starting to think is a fantastic vintage (or at least one that drinks well early), and it should be remarkable in a few years.
Dark red in color, full in body, explosive aromas of chocolate covered cherry, espresso bean, graphite, and crushed rock. Surprisingly plush flavors of blueberry pie, worn leather, cocoa beans, and dried oregano. The finish starts out prickly and dry, but it gains a silky sweetness with air that makes it go down (oh so) smoothly. 14.6% alcohol. Clone 337. Decant three hours if drinking now, but a rational consumer would wait until 2022 or later.
Then again, a rational consumer didn’t open this wine tonight; instead, you’ve got me! Full disclosure, aside from being curious (and impatient), I appreciate young wine, not just for its potential but also for its raw exuberance, lightning in a bottle, all that. After tasting the 2012 RBS tonight as well, I trust the 2018 will shed its baby fat and eventually show more BTK elegance. Until then, though, this wine has a loud combination of density, complexity, and power that make it quite appealing, at least to me. 95 at the moment, with upside as the years go on.
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