Nickel & Nickel State Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
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Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
From the outset, this is one powerful, deeply expressive Cabernet with heady black currant, plum, and cedar aromas leading into a big, juicy entry. Layered currant and black cherry flavors are accented by elegant clove notes. Bold, coating tannins support frame the entire wine, and hints of wet slate add dimension to a dark, brooding finish.
The 2018 growing season kicked off in late February and eased into a mild spring that gave us extended flowering and uniform clusters throughout the vineyard. Summer continued with an even trend, with consistent temperatures allowing fruit to have beautiful, extended hang time. With no heat spikes we were able to wait patiently for every cluster to achieve perfect phenolic maturity. A no rush approach to harvest allowed fruit to develop beautifully on the vine and the Cabernet came into the winery with mature tannins, great acidity and perfect ripeness. This vintage was “near picture-perfect,” and the resulting wines are generous yet structured and expand on the palate.
Tenacity, innovation and a single-minded commitment to “vineyard and varietal” have established Nickel & Nickel as the leader in single-vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Every Cabernet offers the purest expression of its vineyard. No two vineyards are alike. And, as the release of the new 2018 Nickel & Nickel Cabernets can attest, neither are any two vintages. Taste the pure, powerful expressions of unparalleled Napa Valley vineyards. The 2018 Nickel & Nickel Single-Vineyard Cabernets are crafted with excellence and made to be savored.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon State Ranch was aged for 18 months in French oak, 50% new. Deep garnet-purple in color, the nose is redolent of chocolate-covered cherries, blackberry preserves and black currant jelly with touches of wild sage, cast iron pan and cardamom with a waft of cumin seed. Full-bodied, the palate bursts with crunchy black fruit and loads of spicy accents, supported by firm grainy tannins and tons of freshness, finishing long and lively
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The Somm Journal
The fruit for this “stately” wine is grown on sundrenched, rocky loam soil. Aromas of espresso, fennel root, and pencil shavings show a youthful and headstrong demeanor. Firm tannins add to the powerhouse notes of leather, roasted coffee, and clove along with the blackest of fruit.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Nickel & Nickel State Lane Cabernet Sauvignon offers outstanding depth and length not often seen from the Yountville AVA. TASTING NOTES: This wine shines it on with aromas and flavors of ripe red fruit, some black fruit, graphite, and oak. Enjoy it with a juicy, grilled ribeye. (Tasted: September 3, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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James Suckling
Attractive aromas of blackcurrant and blueberry with some dark chocolate and hazelnut. It’s full-bodied and juicy with lots of fruit and hazelnut at the end. Better in 2023.
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Jeb Dunnuck
In the same style, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon State Ranch has a medium to full-bodied style as well as already complex notes of red and black currants, baking spices, dried herbs, and earth. It's rich, nicely concentrated, and balanced.
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Wine Enthusiast
This thickly concentrated wine is brimming in leather and dried herb tones. Black fruit dominates and broods along the rounded, velvety palate, offering luxury and complexity in equal measure
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Wine Spectator
This is well-built, with cassis, crushed plum and blackberry fruit flavors that stretch out slowly and surely, inlaid with graphite, sweet tobacco and violet accents throughout. Ample tarry grip on the back end will need some cellaring to unwind. Best from 2022 through 2032.
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A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
One of Napa Valley's most historic sub-appellations, Yountville spreads through some of the valley's ideal cooler sites and enjoys success with a handful of different and significant grape varieties.
Syrah competes strongly with Cabernet Sauvignon here for optimal vineyard real estate followed by Pinot noir, Pinot blanc and Sauvignon blanc.
This sub-AVA of Napa Valley is rich in the history that makes Napa Valley what it is today, and not just for red wines. Moët & Chandon entered the California winemaking business via Yountville in 1973 with the establishment Domaine Chandon. Their goal has always been to produce top quality méthode champenoise sparkling wines.
Christian Moueix, originally responsible for managing Chateau Petrus and La Fleur-Petrus in Pomerol, arrived in Yountville in the early 1980s. He formed a partnership with Rohin Lail and Marcia Smith, inheritors of Napanook vineyard from their father John Daniel of Inglenook in Rutherford. In 1995 Moueix became sole owner of Napanook and chose the name Dominus, which today produces some of Napa’s highest scoring, age-worthy Bordeaux Blends.