Tech Notes
Wine Details
Jeb Dunnuck
Wine Advocate
Wine Spectator
Antonio Galloni
By Hall Wines
2018 Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon
Technical Details
Grape Varieties: 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot
Appellation: Napa Valley
Vineyards: Sacrashe and Vineyard Partners
Winemaker: Megan Gunderson
Barrel Composition: 75% new French oak
Barrel Aging: 25 months
Alcohol: 15.80%
Vintage Notes
The 2018 growing season was near perfect. It began with mild spring weather, allowing extended flowering and producing very uniform grape clusters. Temperatures throughout Napa remained steady and warm during summer and fall, without any heat spikes, making for a long, unhurried harvest. The resulting wines are incredibly smooth and polished, with magnificent texture and color.
Winegrowing Notes
The Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon is the pinnacle of our blending efforts each year. The exalted Sacrashe Vineyard takes center stage and serves as the basis of this blend, contributing mouth-coating richness and complexity while offering deep, dark, earthy cassis flavors and powerfully dense tannins. From there, we seek out complementary vineyards, usually from the most regarded mountain appellations, to create balance, symmetry, and finesse in the wine. Lastly, we introduce vineyards with profound depth and decadence to heighten the voluptuousness and opulence that have become a hallmark character of our flagship wine.
Tasting Notes
Dark ruby-purple, this wine has deep, alluring aromas of blackcurrant and black plum, layered with expressive notes of dark chocolate, espresso, and a perfume of lavender. Supple, concentrated, and seamless, the palate displays vibrant fruit with undertones of tilled earth and sea salt. Firm, integrated tannins provide a structured backbone to the wine's opulence, finishing with a lasting, powerful impression.
[Information provided by Hall Napa Valley]
Region:
North Coast
Vintage:
2018
Grape:
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
Country:
United States
Unit Size:
750.00 ML
Alcohol Percentage:
15.80
Appellation:
Napa Valley
Wine: 2018 Hall Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall
Score/Rating: 97
Suggested Drinking Window: 2022 - 2047
Review Date: 12/21/2021
Reviewed By: Jeb Dunnuck
Tasting Notes: The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall is more supple and elegant, with terrific up-front charm and complexity already present. Revealing a deep purple color, it's full-bodied and concentrated, with classic Napa Cabernet Sauvignon notes of cassis, leafy herbs, flowers, and lead pencil. The tannins are ripe and polished, it has terrific overall balance as well as remarkable freshness, and it’s just a brilliant 2018 you'll love to have in the cellar. Give it a few years and enjoy over the following 20-25.
Wine: 2018 Hall Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall
Score/Rating: 95-97
Review Date: 11/27/2019
Reviewed By: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Tasting Notes: A barrel sample of [...] Cabernet Sauvignon and [...] Merlot, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall is opaque purple-black colored with a beautiful perfume of bold black currants, Black Forest cake and aniseed with candied violets, ripe red and black plums and rose hip tea notions plus a waft of forest floor. The full-bodied palate is a little closed and tightly wound with elegant, fine-grained tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and fragrant.
Wine: Hall Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Kathryn Hall 2018
Score/Rating: 95
Suggested Drinking Window: Drink now through 2037
Review Date: 10/31/2021
Reviewed By: James Molesworth
Tasting Notes: Rich and ripe, with a caressing edge to its plum paste and cassis core, while melted red licorice, red tea and iron notes add range and length through the fine-grained finish. Not shy on stuffing, but there's a nice sense of refinement to the structure, which lets the fruit play out nicely. Best from 2022 through 2037.
Wine: Hall 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall
Score/Rating: 92
Suggested Drinking Window: 2023 - 2033
Review Date: 10/2021
Reviewed By: Antonio Galloni
Tasting Notes: The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall is a big, potent wine packed with black cherry, plum, spice, new leather and menthol. Readers will find a plush, dense Cabernet built on volume and huge fruit. Floral notes appear with a bit of coaxing, adding lift. The Kathryn Hall is a blend taken from a number of sites, but built on a core from Sacrashe.
