2018 Founders’ Reserve (Sold Out)

“A much smaller production, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Founders Reserve is also all Cabernet and was a cellar selection from the top lots. It’s a bigger, richer wine, with lots of smoked black fruits, graphite, integrated oak, white flowers, and a kiss of tobacco. Rich, full-bodied, beautifully textured, and elegant, this is another head-turning 2018 that readers should snatch up.”  –Jeb Dunnuck (Jan. 2021) 99  points

Tasting Notes

The 2018 Founders’ Reserve gives homage to a Left Bank Bordeaux with its developing feminine nose of red currant interlaced with fresh herbs and a garnish of mint. It offers a complex palate deeply layered with dark-black and red fruit aromatics, toasted nutmeg and tobacco spice flavors.  This wine expresses the beauty and complexity of the two unique vineyard blocks from which it was prooduced. It is also energetically infused with the texture and elegance of this monumental vintage.

Ratings

Antonio Galloni, Vinous (Dec. 2020) 98 points
“The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon William & Mary Founders’ Reserve is a special selection made in just the finest years. Inky and deep, with striking complexity, the 2018 takes all the qualities of the vintage and amplifies them, without veering into excess. A sublime Cabernet, the Founders’ Reserve will appeal most to readers who enjoy old-school leaning wines. The 2018 is not obvious, but is incredibly classy and just impeccable in its balance.”

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Advocate (Jan. 2021) 97+ points
“Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon William and Mary Founder’s Reserve comes barreling out of the glass with energetic scents of fresh wild blueberries, black raspberries, Morello cherries and cassis with touches of cedar, wild sage, pencil lead and cinnamon toast with a waft of clove oil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is densely laden with tight-knit black and red fruit layers, supported by ripe, grainy tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing long with loads of spice and dried herbs sparks. ”

Jeb Dunnuck (Jan. 2021) 99  points
“A much smaller production, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Founders Reserve is also all Cabernet and was a cellar selection from the top lots. It’s a bigger, richer wine, with lots of smoked black fruits, graphite, integrated oak, white flowers, and a kiss of tobacco. Rich, full-bodied, beautifully textured, and elegant, this is another head-turning 2018 that readers should snatch up.”

Vineyard Notes

Seavey’s Founders’ Reserve pays tribute to our founders’ Bill and Mary Seavey and has been crafted from two special blocks in our estate vineyard that were planted in the 1990s. These blocks, known only to us in-house, provide the delicate concentration and tannic structure exposing an elevated and impressive age-worthy Cabernet. The 2018 year began with steady February rainfall, followed by a mild spring and early summer. The growing conditions were near-ideal, with steady sun during the day and cooler marine influences at night. This resulting in the refined power and savoriness we have come to expect with this limited reserve cuvée. These specific blocks of Cabernet grapes were harvested in late September and early October.

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 2018 harvest were promptly de-stemmed. In order to carefully manage the tannins and resulting wine texture, the uncrushed berries were gently transferred into fermentation tanks. Following fermentation, the wine was aged in 100% New French oak barrels for 32 months before bottling in June 2020.

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