2015 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

If Napa Valley had a classification system similar to that of Bordeaux, the Eisele Vineyard in Calistoga would certainly be named a First Growth. After purchasing the site from Joseph Phelps in 1990, proprietors Bart and Daphne Araujo displayed an almost fanatical commitment to realizing its full potential, employing the intensive farming practices of biodynamics and working with some of the most prolific winemakers of the era. In 2013 the winery (now simply called Eisele Vineyard) was purchased by the owners of Chateau Latour who redoubled the commitment to producing Cabernet of the highest caliber, as evidenced by the 2015 release which received a 'perfect' 100 point Cabernet Sauvignon score from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:

100 Points Wine Advocate "Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon charges from the gate with exuberant red and black cherries notes, black currants and mulberries with a beautiful roses and lavender perfume, plus hints of sandalwood and cinnamon stick. Full-bodied, concentrated and downright explosive in the mouth, it is still wearing loads of gorgeous puppy-fat fruit flavors, offering suggestions of the complex, multilayered blockbuster that it will emerge into. The structure deserves its own mention: wonderful, seamless freshness and oh-so-fine, pixelated tannins, with an extraordinary persistence of fruit and mineral nuances. Wow. (LPB)" (10/2017)