Lewelling, Cabernet Sauvignon Wight, St. Helena

I did a quick double decant and poured back into the bottle, six hours later I started drinking. Typical Lewelling style, big and bold, ripe and sweet. Tannins are relatively tame and the alcohol is big. Pours and tastes like Hershey syrup (ok that's an exaggeration, but the cocoa and chocolate notes are there). Once in a while I like this in your face style, I'll be looking forward to the '23 vintage.

45-minute double decant, followed by a one hour slow ox. Deep dark purplish magenta color. Blackberry, plum, raspberry jam, iced tea, maple scone, lime rind, and dill. Some chocolate notes also developed over the following hour. Smooth, dry palate, with pixelated acidity. Firm, medium intensity tannins on the longish, slightly spicy finish. These are always over the top fruit forward, but nicely structured and integrated in their youth. One of the best sub-$75 Napa CS out there.

One hour double decant. Deep dark magenta color. Blackberry, spiced plum, slate, chocolate cake, and unsweet iced tea, with a hint of lemon. Smooth, dry palate, with good acidity. Firm, medium intensity tannins on the longish finish. This has taken a step forward since my last bottle several months ago. There’s a pleasant overall spiciness to this guy. This was WOTN for our group.

Incredibly good Cabernet. Jammy, expressive fruit without being heavy, sweet or out of balance. Gorgeous elegance and freshness. Perfumed. Great texture. Historical farming family in the Valley. One of the best values for money in the wine business. This should be twice the price. I may have even underscored this a point or two. Still a bit young. Wine is so delicious.

At my parents and decided to revisit the 2021 Lewelling Wight and 2021 Myriad Elle/Lewelling side by side to see how they compare. Dark ruby fruit - currants, dark cherry, and some blackberry. Smooth mid-palate with solid depth/concentration. Nice rich flavors of cassis, some spice, a little cocoa, and a little graphite component. Decanted for one hour and drank over a couple more. Improved a little with time. Both were quite enjoyable but we agreed that the Myriad was a …

Served at my parents. A better showing with this bottle. Dark ruby fruit - currants, blackberry, and dark cherry. Smooth mid-palate with decent depth/concentration. Nice vibrant flavors of cassis, some spice, a little cocoa, some black tea, and a nice graphite component. The graphite component was more prominent so it wasn’t as rich/sweet as previous bottles. Popped/poured but drank out of a decanter for a couple hours. Improved a little with time. 94 this time around and a solid QPR …

Menu decant. Deep dark magenta color. Black pepper, black cherry, violet, marshmallow, honeycomb, dried apricot, and burnt pancake. Smooth, dry palate. Firm tannins on the longish finish. This was an emergency bottle, opened at the end of our NYE gathering. It’s youthful, but already good. It seemed a bit lean because it followed two Bevan wines (Adversity Syrah and Addax CS), which wasn’t fair.

Decided to revisit - still considering buying more to lay down in light of Dunnuck’s 97 rating. I wanted to see how it progressed over a couple days since it’s so young. Dark ruby fruit - currants, dark cherry, blackberry, and plum. Smooth mid-palate with a nice purity but not much structure/backbone - more or less a fruit bomb. Nice rich flavors of cassis, some spice, cocoa, and a little graphite component. Decent finish but not overly long nor deep. …

Note to self: hold 2-3 at least you dummy.

Served at my parents along with Lewelling’s 2021 entry level cab. Really curious about this vintage in light of Dunnuck’s 97 rating. Dark ruby fruit - currants, blackberry, and dark cherry. Smooth mid-palate with a nice purity. A little more depth/concentration than the entry level cab but also fairly rich/opulent. Nice vibrant/rich flavors of cassis, some spice/herbs, a little cocoa, and a graphite component. Decent finish but not overly long nor deep. Popped/poured but drank out of decanter for a …

Balance of a bottle opened yesterday morning at their tasting room. Was not gassed-off. While some of the blackberry aromas I recall from yesterday have since dissipated, I'm catching caramel this evening. The wine still has a great grip on the stems and although approachable yesterday, it's lush and Rich this evening, with a mouthfeel that coats the entire palate And lingers for quite some time. Insanely easy to drink, we purchased enough Lewelling that I'm sure to pop one …