1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard

(13.5% alcohol): Healthy dark red. Redcurrant, raspberry, tobacco, game and leather aromas are complicated by mineral and herb nuances. The palate offers sweet, plush flavors of bitter cherry, currant and exotic flowers. This wine strikes me as very different from the more recent vintages made here: less weighty and more precise. This is fully mature and going nowhere, but the finish is tangy, spicy and alive. Made by Tony Soter.

The Araujos bought the property in 1990. Not quite as dark as the Phelps 1982. More restrained than the Phelps and with much more sophisticated texture. Light and lively. Not spitting that! Very beautiful. (JR)

The Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the renowned Eisele Vineyard, which has a long history of producing stunning wines (the Ridge 1971 Eisele Vineyard, the Conn Creek 1974, the Phelps 1976 Insignia, and the 1975 and 1978 Eisele Vineyard Cabernets). At present, the Araujos limit production of their estate Cabernet Sauvignon to approximately 2,500 cases. It is a wine that combines the extraordinary power and richness of this hot area of Napa, with stunning purity and delineation. The 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard is just beginning to emerge from a period of post-bottling dormancy. Like its siblings, it exhibits an impressively saturated dark purple color. This wine is intent on revealing its charms at a relatively early age given its knock-out aromatics. Although slightly less powerful than the 1993 and marginally less concentrated than the 1995, the 1994 is still a profoundly rich, silky-textured wine with an uncanny balance between its smooth tannin and layers of cassis and blackberry/mineral-tinged fruit. This wine is particularly impressive if it is first decanted for 45 or so minutes. It will age well for 15-20 years. As is evident after tasting the wines from Araujo Estate in Napa Valley, this is a formidably run winery dedicated to producing exceptionally high quality wines. Readers should try and get on the mailing list, or at least on the waiting list for the mailing list! Tel. (707) 942-6061; Fax (707) 942-6471