2015 Daou Soul of a Lion
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Tasting notes
The 2015 Soul of a Lion is a blockbuster, and one of the finest wines from this estate to date. A blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot that spent 22 months in new barrel, it offers a Bordeaux-like bouquet (it reminds me of a great vintage of Leoville Las Cases) of crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, spice, and cedar. Rich, full-bodied, layered, and powerful, it’s beautifully balanced and has no hard edges. Hide bottles for 2-3 years and enjoy over the following two decades. From high up off Adelaida Road, the Daou brothers continue to make a massive lineup of stellar wines. The 2016s are incredibly strong across the board and make the most of this brilliant vintage. In 2017, they opted to wait until after the heatwaves and then do extensive sorting, and this paid off brilliantly and I suspect they’ve made the top Bordeaux blends in the vintage. As I’ve said in the past, these wine compete with the best of Napa Valley and are some of the leading Bordeaux blends from Paso Robles.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
(100% new French oak) Inky ruby. Highly expressive, oak-spiced cherry, black currant and floral pastille aromas are complemented by suggestions of vanilla and licorice. Sweet, seamless and broad on the palate, offering intense dark berry, cherry-vanilla and spicecake flavors and a building mocha note. Shows outstanding focus and appealing sweetness on the strikingly long, juicy finish, which features repeating spiciness, a sexy floral quality and slow-building tannins.
The 2015 Soul Of A Lion is superb, opening in the glass with a rich bouquet of cassis, pencil shavings, asphalt and subtle bay leaf. On the palate, it's full-bodied, rich and very powerful, with huge depth and dimension and a chewy, savory finish. While this is very much a large-scaled wine, it's full of energy and its fruit is ripe but not sweet. In the context of this cuvée, this is certainly one of the more sun-kissed renditions of Soul Of A Lion, but it's an amazing achievement in a challenging vintage for Cabernet Sauvignon. Based on previous iterations' evolution, it should evolve for a long time.
(100% new French oak): Inky purple. Ripe dark berry, cherry-vanilla, licorice, candy and espresso scents are complemented by suggestions of cola, cracked pepper and woodsmoke. Offers palate-coating dark berry preserve, fruitcake and vanilla bean flavors that develop peppery spice and mocha qualities as the wine stretches out. Rich but shockingly lively as well, delivering a juicy, seamless, dark-fruit-driven finish that's framed by supple, harmonious tannins.