2021 Brion Cabernet Sauvignon Sleeping Lady Vineyard
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Julien Fayard is the winemaker behind Brion's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Sleeping Lady Vineyard. This famed Yountville site has yielded cool notes of crushed stone, menthol, black cherries and cassis on the nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate is beautifully framed by fine-grained tannins, finishing firm but ripe and with terrific length and energy. This wine seems capable of evolving nicely for up to 20 years.
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Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Full bottle 1,486 g. Cabernet Sauvignon a ged for 20 months in French oak, 80% new. 374 cases produced. Dark purple. Very sweet, heady nose. Round, extremely polished tannins – so much so that the wine lacks a bit of refreshment. Then a hint of char on the end. (JR)
A seductive, well-built and balanced cabernet sauvignon with aromas of sweet cherries, dark plums, dried herbs, cedar and baking spices. It’s full-bodied with fine, firm tannins. Berries and chocolate at the center, with a serious frame of tannins on the mid-palate and the focused, chewy and long finish.
I always find an old-school, slightly Bordeaux-like quality in wines from this cooler site in Yountville, and the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Sleeping Lady Vineyard certainly has it in spades, revealing a dense, full-bodied, powerful, and structured style as well as beautiful darker currant and blue fruits, some chocolate, leather, and graphite nuances, plenty of mid-palate depth, and ripe yet building and mouthcoating tannins. As with the Cabernet Franc, this was relatively tight and backward right on opening, but it blossoms with time in the glass. Do your best to hide bottles for 4-6 years, and I suspect it will have a length drink window through 2048 if well stored. This is a brilliant bottle of wine.