2018 Larkmead Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Solari’ Napa Valley

DEC97 The flagship single-vineyard wine from Dan Petroski at Larkmead is remarkable in 2018. Comprised of two parcels at the southern border of Calistoga, bordering St. Helena. Soils are a combination of Cortina gravel and Pleasanton clay. A major level up in every dimension from the already fantastic Napa Valley Cabernet, the nose is enthralling: savoury and floral, ripe but restrained, smoldering and spry. The texture is seamless, multidimensional, but has a rustic authentically to it. A truly fantastic wine, and one to be looked to as a benchmark for balance, complexity, age-worthiness and transparency.
WE97 This Cabernet Sauvignon is crunchy, textured and elegant. The palate is driven by grippy tannins, with lifted elements of herbs, crushed rock and violet lingering over ripe flavors of dark cherry and currant. Enjoy from 2028–2038. Virginie Boone
JS97  Beautiful aromas of currants, blackberries and flowers follow through to a full body with ultra fine tannins that are polished and so long and persistent. Linear and very, very fine, yet structured. Try after 2025, but already very impressive to taste.
JD96  The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Solari is all Cabernet and was brought up in mostly new French oak. A gorgeous wine from this estate, it has incredible notes of blackcurrants, camphor, new leather, and dried tobacco. It takes some air yet gets even more complex, with ample licorice and loamy soil notes developing as it sits in the glass. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has terrific overall balance, lots of underlying structure, and a great, great finish. It’s going to need 5-7 years for these tannins to melt away, but this is a beauty.
Estate Notes: Sourced from our oldest Cabernet Sauvignon blocks, 2018 Solari presents an exuberantly perfumed nose of red cherries, pomegranates, spiced rum, dark chocolate, molasses, and fresh pine forest. The wine continues to evolve with more time in the glass, exploding with bright red fruit aromas balanced by confectionary notes of toasted spices. This wine has at once both great length and levity; soft yet gripping tannins coat all corners of the mouth, giving way to a finish of cocoa and orange blossoms that lift and balance the momentous weight of the wine.