NV Cabernet Sauvignon SLV

The S.L.V. is a 34-acre estate planted primarily to Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in 1970, famed for producing the triumphant 1973 Cabernet at the Paris Tasting. Its volcanic and alluvial soils offer excellent drainage, translating into wines of grip and structure, and the 2023 vintage is downright masterful. This is the classic iron fist in a velvet glove: the aromatics are subtle and restrained, belying the power and structure that unfold on the palate. Black-fruited and deeply layered, with sagebrush and ironstone notes, the wine builds with robust blackberry fruit and ultra-fine cocoa-powder tannins that provide a perfect foundation for the mineral-laced fruit. Polished, suave, and gorgeous in its youth, this is a wine that will age gracefully, developing beautifully nuanced complexity for deCades to come. Fermented entirely in stainless steel and aged for 21 months in 100% new French oak.

The 2024 Cabernet Sauvignon S.L.V. is a very promising young wine. It possesses notable power and richness, both of which reinforce an impression of somber intensity and virile power. This potent, backward Cabernet Sauvignon is going to need some time to come together. It appears to have a bright future, but I expect it will always be a powerhouse. The oak is not totally integrated yet, but this is a barrel sample.

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon S.L.V. is upfront and perfumed yet still plays in the more inward, structured style of the vintage. Red and black currants, spicy oak, graphite, and smoked tobacco are just some of its nuances, and this remarkable effort is full-bodied on the palate, with ripe, velvety tannins, a great mid-palate, and fabulous length on the finish.