Chappellet Pritchard Hill Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Professional Ratings

• 100 Jeb Dunnuck
  Also inky colored, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill comes from the estate vineyard on Pritchard Hill and spent 22 months in new French oak. It has a similar level of purity, as well as incredible minerality, to go with notes of crème de cassis, scorched earth, crushed rock, and graphite. Reminiscent of liking a rock with its insane level of minerality, this full-bodied beauty is tight and closed on the palate, yet is just loaded with potential. It’s only for those with cold cellars and needs forgotten for 7-8 years, but will keep for 4-5 decades. Bravo!
• 97 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  A blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Petit Verdot and 8% Malbec, the deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill has gone a little reticent at this stage, offering quiet notions of blackberry pie and blueberry tart with sparks of dried herbs, earth and savory/meaty suggestions. Full-bodied, rich and concentrated with a built-like-a-brick-house structure framing the massive fruit, it finishes long with exotic spices coming through.
• 96 James Suckling
  Blackcurrants and black olives with hints of currants and basil. Hints of rosemary and lavender. This is linear and bright with a racy line of tannins running down the center. Structured and bright. A real beauty. Needs three or four years to soften. Classic cabernet.
• 95 Wine Enthusiast

  This is a powerfully concentrated and constructed wine, with 14% Petit Verdot and 8% Malbec. Dark, inky and reductive, it offers waves of tar, leather and toasted oak within sinewy tannins. Chewy black fruit is structured around wild elements of cedar, dried herb and sage, with lingering notes of clove. This is one to let settle; enjoy best from 2025–2030.

• 94 Wine Spectator
  Bold blueberry, plum and boysenberry fruit flavors give this an overt profile, with warm anise, fruitcake and chocolate notes pouring in alongside the fruit through the finish. There’s a buried graphite edge for support, lengthening this out. A big red.
• 92 Decanter
  The dense black-fruited character of this powerful wine may well be derived from the high proportion of Petit Verdot. The nose is opulent but still reserved and almost tarry from the new oak. It's velvety, fleshy, and very concentrated, but lacks a lightness of touch and some finesse. The acidity is moderate so there's not a great deal of drive here, but it offers a solid mouthful and ripe fruit. Long, and should age well.