Cult Trio
In 1995 and 1996, the debut releases from Araujo Estate, Bryant Family, Colgin Cellars, Harlan Estate, and Screaming Eagle announced the beginning of the ”Cult Cabernet” phenomenon. These bottlings became famous by showcasing a new, distinctly modern-styled Napa Valley wine and made stars out of viticulturalists and winemakers like Heidi Barrett, David Abreu and Michel Rolland. The cults were ripe, powerful wines unshackled by loyalty to “old world” winemaking and they set themselves apart from both the wineries that put Napa Valley on the map and the legendary First Growths of Bordeaux.
Because of their ripeness, the cult Cabernets could more often be enjoyed in their youth, making it easier for them to appeal to neophyte wine lovers and longtime collectors alike. The flashiness of the wines brought acclaim from critics, and the 100-point scores amplified the demand for the few bottles produced.
Cult wineries like Screaming Eagle sold most of their wine through a private mailing list, which made it incredibly rare to see bottles in the wild, and even rarer still to be one of the lucky few to get to taste the wine. The combination of mystery and scarcity cultivated by these estates was employed to masterful effect as demand grew and prices soared. Over 20 years after it began, the cult Cabernet “revolution” continues with a combination of many of the original players still going strong and the emergence of several new wineries hoping to join the ranks of Napa Valley’s most elite Cabernet bottlings.
2019 Hundred Acre Wraith Cabernet Sauvignon
Decanter - "I was able to taste this wine over three days, and it further cemented my impression that Woodbridge’s wines are profoundly structured and balanced and while they offer serious upfront pleasure, they will deliver rewarding complexities with long-term cellaring. Upon opening a heady hit of resin, sap, cedar, and graham cracker crust only hints at what is lurking beneath as mineral nuances shortly emerge. Compact and perfectly knit together, there are no gaps, no edges, and the firm, taut sleek tannin prolife is so perfectly integrated as to be weightless. After half an hour, red-toned fruits with intimations of black become more defined, as pure black cherry, with a crunchy outer skin and a juicy, succulent, flesh core. With more time, the wine becomes beautifully perfumed and elegant, offering hints of chocolate. The sweetness of the fruit is tempting and hovers at the surface, intimating more depth. A day later, the wine is still exceptionally fragrant, with mulled spices emerging, building with intensity layered by black and blue fruit and no sense of imbalance. Still perfectly knit and generous. On the third day of tasting, the wine is holding on like a heavyweight champ. It has begun to offer rich, warm earthen humus notes and a real sense of volcanic terroir. It is still broad and expansive with a density of flavour and complexity but manages to remain balletic and almost weightless. Such an impressive feat for a wine that is truly otherworldly."
2017 Colgin Tychson Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
Antonio Galloni - "The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Tychson Hill is bright, focused and bristling with energy. In 2017, Tychson Hill is more overly tannic and structured than in most years, but all that means is that readers need to be a bit patient. A rush of black cherry, plum, lavender, mint and licorice builds as this explosive Cabernet Sauvignon gradually opens up in the glass. Heady and exotic in its beauty, the 2017 is positively stellar. It reminds me a bit of the 2001, a wine that needed years to soften and be at its very best. That may very well be the case here as well."
1996 Bryant Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - "The opaque purple-colored 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon offers a spectacular, exotic bouquet of Peking duck skins, blackberry and cassis liqueur, roasted herbs, and burning charcoal. It is phenomenally intense, with record levels of dry extract and glycerin. This hedonistic blockbuster is crammed with jammy fruits nicely buttressed and framed by adequate acidity and tannin. Drink this marvelous Cabernet Sauvignon now or cellar it for two decades. This is mind-boggling stuff!" (RP)
