2016 Accendo Cellars, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Bottle (750ml)

RP98 The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is blended of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot and was bottled in August 2018. Deep garnet-purple colored, it bursts out of the glass with exotic spice notes of star anise, fenugreek and cumin seed over a core of blackberry pie, wild blueberries and warm cassis with hints of kirsch, cigar box and mocha plus a waft of smoked meats. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is jam-packed with vibrant black, blue and red fruits plus tons of spicy sparks, framed by wonderfully ripe, fine-grained tannins and beautiful freshness, finishing long and perfumed.

DR98 Pure red berry fruit leads from the glass intermixed with heady cedar spices. Full-bodied, revealing a fantastic mid-palate depth of concentration with a spectacular vein of crushed stone minerality. The ripe, bright, red berry fruit is plush, silken, laced with brown spices and the characteristic freshness of the 2016 vintage. The tannins are fine and silky, and the finish reveals elegant cedarwood and baking spices. The Cabernet Franc came from Oakville Ranch and the old Reverery site on Diamond Mountain. The Cabernet Sauvignon comes from Vine Hill Ranch and Sleeping Lady Vineyard. In 2016, Nigel Kinsman assumed the red winemaking for Accendo immediately preceding harvest. Francoise Peschon, who he has collaborated with since their days at Araujo Estate together in 2010, ‘fermented the Accendo reds and then passed the baton to me,’ Kinsman told me. This vintage also marks the first year of crushing grapes at the Wheeler Farms facility in St. Helena. In 2014, Bart and Daphne Araujo and partners purchased the parcel of land on Zinfandel Lane, now Wheeler Farms.

AG97+ The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon feels like it hasn't developed much over the last year, and I see that as a positive. Silky, nuanced and still very vibrant, the 2016 is just as inspiring as it was when I tasted it last year. Fresh, floral and medium in body, with terrific depth, the 2016 is positively stellar. Bright floral and spice notes add freshness to this super-expressive, sublime Cabernet Sauvignon from Accendo. (Drink between 2024-2031)