2018 HALL Cabernet Sauvignon Exzellenz (Sacrashe Vineyard)
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Tasting notes
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Exzellenz is a blend taken mostly from Sacrashe. In this tasting, the Exzellenz is marked by its distinctive red fruited-profile and bright floral top notes. Crushed raspberry, blood orange, chalk, mint and white pepper lend brilliance throughout. This is another gorgeous wine from Hall.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
I've loved this cuvée in the past, and the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Exzellenze certainly doesn't disappoint. Coming from a site in Rutherford (the Sacrashe Vineyard), it's one of the riper, sexier wines in the lineup and offers a heavenly nose of spiced red and black fruits intermixed with notes of new leather, loamy soil, chocolate, and Asian spice. Gorgeous on the palate, it's full-bodied and has velvety tannins, ample flesh and fatness, no hard edges, and a great finish. It's already impossible to resist, yet I have no doubt it will evolve for 25+ years if stored properly. It's another impeccably made wine from this team that’s well worth your time and effort.
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Exzellenz is a wild, exotic wine. Iron, dried flowers, white pepper, mint and earthy overtones are some of the many notes that open up as the 2018 sits in the glass. Powerful and super-concentrated, with striking aromatic brightness and energy, the Exzellenz is another Cabernet in this range that really shows off the Hall style to great effect.
A barrel sample blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Exzellenz is opaque purple-black colored. The nose is broody and closed, unfurling to reveal baked blackberries, plum preserves and black currant pastilles with hints of chocolate cake, licorice, charcoal and fragrant soil. Full-bodied, fine grained and with impressive tension, the palate offers layer upon layer of black and blue fruits, finishing long and fragrant.