St Eden 2018

A barrel sample, the 2018 St. Eden is deep garnet-purple in color. The nose is a little closed at this nascent stage, offering broody glimpses at blackcurrant jelly, boysenberries and black raspberries before opening out to a spicy undercurrent of cloves, black pepper and cumin seed. The palate is built like a brick house with a solid structure of ripe, grainy tannins and a lively backbone framing the full-bodied, muscular fruit, finishing long and layered.

Extremely aromatic and energetic with blackberries and essence of currants. Fresh and transparent. Full-bodied with dark fruit and some spice, inkwell and blood. Very structured and tannic, but balanced and polished. Undercurrent of acidity. Contrastive. Better after 2026.

A bonafide smorgasbord-like array of ripe black cherry and blueberry fruits, chocolate, cedar pencil shavings, spice cabinet, and violets emerge from the 2018 St. Eden, a deep, rich, profound 2019 that unquestionably ranks with the top wines in the vintage. With full-bodied richness, it has beautiful mid-palate density and depth of the vintage while staying light on its feet, balanced, and lengthy. The tannins emerge with extended time in the glass, and it will benefit from 4-6 years of bottle age and no doubt keep for 30 years if stored properly. This comes from a slightly cooler terroir of red, volcanic soils and spent 28 months in roughly 40% to 60% new French oak.