2017 Cabernet Sauvignon

Tasting Notes

Clove, cassis and brandied cherries are in the forefront of this linear, focused wine. The gentle tannin texture coats your palate with notes of cranberry, pomegranate, cinnamon and spice. Savory slate and minerality balance the red fruits and expose the wine’s core earthiness. The finish is racy with a mouthwatering acidity. Reminiscent of Seavey’s captivating 2010 vintage, this seamless and selective Cabernet conjures the deep history and ruggedness of our steep hillside vineyard.

Ratings

Antonio Galloni, Vinous (Jan. 2020) 97 points
“The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Seavey Vineyard is without question one of the wines of the vintage. Bright and explosive, with tremendous aromatic lift and structure, the 2017 possesses superb balance to match its classy and classic feel. Sweet floral and spice notes develop in the glass alongside red and purplish fruit, adding stunning perfume and layers of complexity to this supremely beautiful mid-weight Cabernet Sauvignon.”

Jeb Dunnuck (Jan. 2020) 95+ points
“Slightly deeper purple-colored, the 100% estate 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon offers a brilliant bouquet of crème de cassis, cedarwood, spring flowers, sappy herbs, and forest floor. With medium to full body, beautiful purity and elegance as well as power on the mid-palate, it’s a remarkable, classic wine that shows the style of the estate as well as the style of the vintage.”

Vineyard Notes

Seavey’s 27th vintage of single-vineyard estate Cabernet Sauvignon comes from grapes grown on steep hillside blocks which we have now been farming for 40 years. The 2017 year began with dramatic rains that flooded the valley. Replenished after the extended drought, our vines grew with vigor through a mild spring that encouraged good fruit set. Heat spikes late in the season led to shorter hang-time. Our Cabernet grapes were harvested in late September and early October, prior to the memorable wildfires.

Production Notes

Seavey separately harvests, vinifies and ages each vineyard block of our grapes. Our winemaking follows classic Bordeaux methods with whole-berry fermentation. In the cool of the early morning harvest, grapes from our 2017 harvest were promptly de-stemmed and the uncrushed berries were gently transferred into fermentation tanks. In order to carefully manage the tannins and resulting wine texture, the grapes were neither crushed nor run through a pump. Following fermentation, the wine was aged in French oak barrels (70% new) for 20 months before bottling in June 2019.

100% ESTATE GROWN, PRODUCED & BOTTLED, NAPA VALLEY AVA