accolades

2003 Spottswoode Estate Cabernet
The Wine Advocate, Robert Parker

The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate reveals tremendous ripeness, but is lighter and not as seamless or persistent as the 2002. The bouquet offers loads of licorice, crème de cassis, and violets followed by a full-bodied palate, and wonderful finesse and richness, but the wine is neither heavy nor overdone. The wood is beautifully integrated and the finish long and stunning. It should drink well for 15+ years. 93 Points (December, 2005)

Wine Spectator, James Laube

Subtle aromas of red currant, black cherry and plum carry over to the palate in an elegant, supple manner. Excellent balance, depth, complexity and length, and the finish is long and persistent, keeping the emphasis on the fruit. Drink now through 2012. 92 Points (October, 2006)

International Wine Cellar, Steve Tanzer

Ruby-red. Complex aromas of currant, plum, leather, tobacco, cedar and menthol, along with a faint dusty note. Then supple, rich and layered, with a very smooth texture. Not as sweet as the 2004 but plenty full in the mouth and more suave. Finishes with serious tongue-coating tannins that call for at least five or six years of cellaring. Points 92 (+?) (May/June, 2006)

Barrel Sample: (14.6% alcohol) Good medium ruby. Youthfully medicinal aromas of black cherry, blackberry and menthol. Juicy, dense and sweet, with a seamless texture and a note of bitter chocolate. Showing a bit more inner-palate lift today than the 2002, but this is wonderfully lush as well. Finishes with substantial but supple, sweet tannins. The crop here was slightly bigger than in 2002, but Cakebread noted that September heat was not as much of an issue in ’03 as it was in 2002 or 200. 91–94 Points (May/June, 2005)

Dan Berger

Exceptional. Classic fruit-driven style of wine, but with ripe cherry, dried herb and sandalwood notes that indicate the wine will age seamlessly for at least a decade. Great now with refined meat dishes.

Appellation America.com (St. Helena)

Reviewed by Alan Goldfarb, June 8, 2006

When folks ask what is my favorite wine, I dodge the query because I don’t want to appear biased. The truth is I really don’t have any favorites. It usually depends upon the time of day. If you’ve gotten this far, you’re probably thinking I’m going to admit that Spottswoode is my favorite. But I’ll continue with the ruse—it is…and it isn’t.

What I mean is, I so admire and respect the women who produce one of the foremost Napa Valley Cabernets. Not only have they been farming organically for more than 20 years (before it became di rigueur), but year-in-year-out you can count on Spottswoode’s wines being so consistent but so subtly nuanced, that you can plan to celebrate your wedding anniversary with it, thereby enhancing your marriage.

With this edition—from a spotty 2003 vintage that will prove to have produced some inconsistent wines—you can still hold it up as a kind of GMT by which to set your watch.

The wine—96 percent Cabernet, the rest Cab Franc from the winery’s St. Helena estate and made in 70 percent new French oak—is so gorgeous, so soft and elegant, supple and smooth, that Andre Tchelistcheff’s signature descriptor of a “velvet glove” doesn’t need to be covered with his proverbial “powerful fist.” That’s not to say there’s no backbone here. It’s just that with Spottswoode’s wines what you get is pure and delicious intellectual discourse, without the need for Alpha male intrusiveness.

But with these Cabs, a price must be exacted—and that alas, is the price. Yes, it’s costly beyond many of our means, but what the hey, because in the end, unlike with most expensive wines, this one’s worth it. What’s good too, is that there were 3,700 cases made.