SPOTTSWOODE CAB ESTATE '14
SPOTTSWOODE ESTATE CABERNET SAUVIGNON, ST. HELENA NAPA VALLEY 2014
Wine Enthusiast
98 Points
Nuanced, with 10% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, this is a quietly powerful wine, smooth and structured and immediate in its beauty, yet possessed of legs to cellar for 20-plus years. Crushed flowers and rocks open on the nose, providing a clutch of minerality, as grippy tannins support red currant, plum and a freshness of persistent acidity. Try to wait on this one. Best 2024 through 2034.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate
96+ Points
This first-growth estate in St. Helena has produced a 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon that is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. It is certainly one of the wines of the vintage. Gorgeously opaque purple, it offers up notes of spring flowers, blueberries, blackcurrants, some baking spice and graphite. It is full-bodied, concentrated and rich, with layers of fruit. The wine builds and builds on the palate, with a great finish of 45+ seconds. This is a sensational 2014 to drink over the next 20+ years.
Antonio Galloni - Vinous
96 Points
Spottswoode 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is striking. Black cherry, plum, graphite, spice and menthol are some of the signatures. Intensely mineral and savory, the 2014 comes across as a slightly restrained version of the 2013. The flavor and tannin profiles are both quite similar, but the 2014 is a bit smaller-scaled in all of its dimensions. That is not a bad thing, as the 2014 will be ready to drink sooner. This is an impressive showing.
San Francisco Wine Panel
98 Points
NVWE Notes: Deep, classy and textbook Spottswoode, the nose of this concentrated wine layers aromas of black cherry, black raspberry, blackberry, Cassis, cedar, vanilla, tobacco, clove, allspice and hints of forest earth and Kalamata olive. It is fruit-packed on the palate, where fine acidity and substantial tannins combine to give grand-scale structure to flavors of black cherry, Cassis, black plum, cola, bitter chocolate, clove, sandalwood, vanilla, and humidor-spice. If built for serious aging, it will certainly compliment steaks and rich beef entrees in the meantime. Expect eight or more years of growth.