2018 Highest Beauty Cabernet Sauvignon
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Tasting notes
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Highest Beauty features a delicately lifted, minty aspect to the nose, along with classic notes of cassis and cedar—like all the To Kalon Vineyard Company wines, it was matured in 100% new French oak. It's medium to full-bodied, not overly rich or extracted, velvety and almost too easy to drink, showing a slight lack of richness on the mid-palate, yet finishing strong, with ample intensity and length.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Highest Beauty is pure brilliance and ranks with the finest wines of the vintage. This is a tiny production cuvée made with the idea of producing the best wine possible from the vineyard, and where most To Kalon lean toward the more powerful, sexy end of the spectrum, this beauty has an almost Pauillac-like style in its pure cassis, graphite, tobacco leaf, and lead pencil-like aromas and flavors. With fine tannins, medium to full-bodied richness, and just about flawless balance, it has the vibrancy, purity, and structure that makes this vintage so special. This will most likely flirt with perfection in 5-6 years and should have 25+ years of overall longevity.
Blackberries and lead pencil with asphalt, spice and violets. This is medium-to full-bodied with linear and very long tannins that go on and on. Racy and refined, with strength at the same time. Closed and tight now. Hints of toasted oak at the end. Give it time to show its greatness. Pure cabernet sauvignon. Try after 2025.
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Highest Beauty is an attractive wine, but it feels a bit compressed. Crème de cassis, bittersweet chocolate, sweet spice and new French oak open gradually and yet the 2018 never really emerges from its shell. Time in the glass brings out attractive floral notes along with red fruit, spice and blood orange nuances.
About the producer
With wines made by legendary winemaker Andy Erickson, the To Kalon Vineyard Company celebrates Napa’s most famous vineyard, producing three single-vineyard wines from the site. Consistently receiving critical acclaim,, these are benchmark expressions of top Napa Cabernet.