Venge Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Bone Ash’ 2018

Introduction

The 2018 vintage is simply spectacular. This wine begins with wonderful purple color and aromatics that speak in the blue fruit spectrum. Blackberries and blueberries, and jammy notes fill the senses. As this wine opens up, the background notes of French Oak vanillin and earth come forth. This is a true Cabernet expression. Great fruit, mid-palate, body, and streaming length; its all in there! The palate is polished and sophisticated. Cranberry, black currant, blackberry, and black cherry are all intertwined. The acid and tannin balance is promising. This wine will drink its best from 2021 through 2035.

96 Points – Jeb Dunnuck Another gem of a wine, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Bone Ash has a richer, full-bodied, concentrated style that will benefit from bottle age. More backward notes of darker currants, tobacco, chocolate, and lead pencil give way to a layered, seamless beauty that builds nicely with time in the glass, offering terrific tannins, the purity of fruit that’s the hallmark of the vintage, an expansive texture, and a great finish. Don’t be afraid to throw this in a decanter if drinking any time soon, and it’s going to have 20-25 years of overall longevity.

96 Points – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Bone Ash Vineyard has a deep garnet-purple color, bursting from the glass with notes of stewed plums, ripe black currants and blackberry preserves, followed by suggestions of bay leaves, pencil shavings, garrigue and Ceylon tea. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers rich, powerful black fruit flavors, beautifully juxtaposed by compelling freshness and a firm, grainy texture, finishing long with an energetic herbal lift.

96 Points – Wine Enthusiast From an estate site near the top of the Napa Valley, this wine is rich, lengthy and supple in black cherry, cassis and well-integrated oak and tannin. Lushly rich, it offers complexity and structure within that context, finishing in a taste of crushed rock, tobacco and black pepper. *Cellar Selection*