2016 Staglin Family Cabernet Sauvignon Estate
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Tasting notes
I continue to simply love the 2016s, which come close to rivaling the 2013s, albeit with a more elegant character. Another pure class release from this great estate, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated blend that includes small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, all aged 20 months in mostly new French oak. Its deep purple/plum color is followed by classic Rutherford notes of blackcurrants, cedar pencil, chocolaty herbs, licorice, and hints of truffle. It's beautifully balanced, full-bodied, and seamless on the palate, and while it's less overt and sexy than the 2015, it shows the class, balance, purity, and length that makes 2016 such a special vintage. It offers pleasure today and will offer pleasure in another 20-25 years.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is another wine in this range that shows the natural breadth and dimension of the year. Ample, powerful and broad, with real depth, the 2016 has a lot to offer. The 2016 hasn't moved much over the last year, so readers will have to be patient. New leather, spice, menthol and sweet dark cherry all build in a rich, textured Cabernet.
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate bursts out of the glass with beautiful black cherry compote, warm cassis and freshly crushed blackberries scents plus touches of chargrill, violets, dark chocolate and pencil shavings and a waft of English lavender. Full-bodied, the palate features great intensity combined with fantastic freshness, textured by soft, finely grained tannins and lifted by the most gorgeous floral perfume, finishing long and layered. Beautiful wine.
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a powerful, fleshy wine. Just bottled about two months before this tasting, the 2016 shows a good deal of textural depth and richness. Today, the new oak is a bit dominant, but time in bottle should help take care of at least some of that. Super-ripe dark cherry, plum, menthol, spice and new French oak are very nicely delineated. The 2016 is very primary at this stage, but the Staglin Cabernets really only start drinking well around age 7-8 give or take. I expect that will be the case here as well.