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96 points Wine Spectator
At this stage, the wine of the vintage, with an amazingly dark, rich, plush core of currant, spice, black cherry and blackberry. Deliciously elegant, with supple, subtle flavor nuances and extra flavor dimensions. Shows no sign of fatigue; the debut vintage was no fluke. (5/2003)
Wine Description
The Story
“First and foremost, I will be perpetuating the fresh, delicate style of wine that has been the Screaming Eagle hallmark since 1992. Across two winemakers before me (Heidi and Andy), that style has stayed remarkably consistent, which is part of the uniqueness of this ranch. The character of the vineyard really asserts itself. What will be new is the discovery of the young vine plots, and the ways that we can farm them individually to get the best site expression possible. It is a winemaker’s dream to be able to truly understand and manage a vineyard acre by acre and spend an enormous amount of time out there with the vines,” Nick Gislason, Winemaker.
One would not say that Screaming Eagle offers value versus price, but like Romanee-Conti it exists in another league. There is so little produced, with most of the production remaining in the US to be consumed domestically, that the global market clammers for whatever it can secure. Screaming Eagle is spectacular wine, a massive, fruit forward beast, with incredible dark fruits and power: it is a wonderful, special and breath-taking wine to drink.
Wine Information
After terrible winter floods, 1986 was another early vintage in Napa Valley. The flowering season, early due to several consecutive heat waves, was already advanced when estate agent Jean Phillips arrived at a vineyard by the Silverado Trail and Oakville Crossroad. With her experience of numerous properties and vineyards, Phillips senses something extraordinary and magical there. She realises she wants this ranch for herself.
Without knowing much about the quality of the wines from the plot, she makes an offer for it. The price is accepted and, having paid, Phillips becomes the owner of the 57-acre vineyard. The majority of the varieties cultivated on the plot are white grapes, and its 80 vines of Cabernet Sauvignon only cover about one acre of land. Having received encouraging feedback on the quality of the Cabernet grapes grown here from the Robert Mondavi Winery, Phillips decides to start her own winemaking operation. Extensive planting lies ahead. Phillips hires the respected wine consultant Richard Peterson, who introduces her to his winemaker daughter, Heidi Peterson Barrett.
The two women form a partnership that will produce a wine whose début vintage of 1992, launched in 1996, completely charms the most esteemed of wine critics, Robert Parker. He gives it 99 points. With only a few hundred crates produced, this becomes the most sought-after wine by collectors overnight. Only four years after its launch, six magnum bottles of 1992 Screaming Eagle go at the Napa Valley Wine Auction for the highest price ever paid for a wine: half a million dollars. A legend is born.