2020 Spottswoode, Cabernet Sauvignon, St Helena, Napa Valley, California, USA

Picked at just 23 Brix in late August when there was smoke but before any major Glass Fire impact. Made as usual. They sent as many as 300 samples to labs in Australia and British Columbia. To be released September 2023.

Deep crimson. A little spicy on the nose but overall ‘cool’ !) and restrained with a notably dry finish. Not quite as gloriously persistent as usual.

Drink now to 2030.

Aromas of blackcurrant, hazelnut and chocolate, with hints of mint and sage that follow through to a medium to full body, with wonderful soft and fine tannins that give a velvety texture and persistent finish. So balanced and refined. Subtle. Didn’t include wine from vineyards in Atlas Peak this year. An excellent 2020.

Drinkable, but will improve so well in the cellar.

The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, tasted as a barrel sample, has 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot in the blend. Deep garnet-purple in color, it springs with notes of cedar chest, cinnamon toast, and black cherry preserves, leading to a core of blackcurrant pastilles, potpourri, and mocha. Medium-bodied, and big on flavors, the palate delivers mouth-coating black fruits with a rock-solid structure of firm tannins and lively acidity, finishing long. Approximately 3,500 cases are to be bottled. Spottswoode finished picking just the day before the Glass Fire broke out. Winemaker Aron Weinkauf says that there was not a lot smoke here from that year's LNU fires.

Drink 2025 - 2050

Tasted out of bottle, the 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate showed beautifully, and it's certainly in the top handful of wines in the vintage. Offering beautiful red, blue, and black fruits as well as notes of tobacco, violets, and chalky minerality, it has medium to full-bodied richness, ripe, high-quality tannins, and outstanding length. It doesn't show any signs of smoke taint and is a beautiful, incredibly impressive effort in the vintage that I suspect will evolve gracefully for two decades.

Drink now to 2043

Tasted blind, in a lineup that included vintages back to 2010, a barrel sample of Spottswoode's 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon stood out as being one of the most exciting efforts. Full-bodied, ripe and rich without being overbearing, it delivers concentrated black cherry and cassis fruit framed by supple, velvety-textured tannins. It's long on the finish, with an attractively soft, dusty-loamy texture and no overt signs of a fire-troubled Napa vintage.

Drink 2024 - 2045