Special Note: Interested in splitting up the case and buying just 1 or 2 bottles? Contact us and we may oblige.
Ratings & Tasting Notes:
98 points Decanter
Review Date: 02/2025
The 2022 Screaming Eagle is superbly perfumed, bursting with rose, rose stem, and violets. The tannins are silky and refined, reminiscent of 2018, with less grip and more sleek finesse—here, satin takes precedence over velvet. Ripe mulberry fruit, sandalwood, and coriander add layers to the medium-bodied palate, which is energised by saline-acid tension and remarkable balance. As the tannins melt seamlessly, notes of cocoa powder and cool slate crispness linger, enhancing the wine’s precision and elegance. The result of careful, patient winemaking and extreme sorting, this 2022 vintage delivers remarkable poise despite the challenges. Fermented in large wood foudres, concrete, and stainless steel, then aged 20–22 months in 69% new French oak, it is a stunning achievement. It may not be the longest-lived Eagle, but it’s one to enjoy earlier in life. (“In a twisted way, vintages like this excite me a bit,” says Nick Gislason, winemaker at Screaming Eagle. “There were real decisions to make in the vineyard that had serious consequences, unlike years like 2018, 2019, or 2007, where choices shape the wine but don’t create disaster.” (JC)
Cult Wines International Notes:
Screaming Eagle, founded in 1986 by Jean Phillips and catapulted to fame by its debut 1992 vintage, remains the pinnacle of California’s “cult Cabernet” phenomenon. Located on a 57-acre estate in the prime Oakville AVA, the vineyard sits on a unique, well-drained, stony slope right below the Silverado Trail. This specific location benefits from a natural cold-sink effect, where cool air from the San Pablo Bay pool at night, preserving essential acidity in the grapes. Under the precision stewardship of winemaker Nick Gislason, the estate maintains an uncompromising micro-lot approach and extreme sorting standards. Because Screaming Eagle produces exceptionally tiny quantities, it has become one of the most highly sought-after, tightly allocated, and collectible wines in the world, renowned for its uncanny ability to marry ethereal elegance, intense perfume, and profound structural power. The 2022 growing season in Napa Valley was a true test of a vineyard’s resilience, defined by a brutal, record-breaking Labor Day heatwave. Coming off consecutive drought years, the vines already carried a smaller canopy and lighter crop load. However, the estate’s cooler location and meticulous early-season canopy management kept the fruit balanced, allowing the sugars to accumulate slowly before the extreme September heat spiked. While many valley floor producers faced over-ripeness or severe dehydration, Screaming Eagle used rigorous sorting to select only pristine, unaffected fruit. Remarkably, the estate chose not to bottle its “The Flight” cuvée in 2022, focusing entirely on a single masterwork. The resulting 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon is a stunning triumph of precision over climate, celebrated for its unexpected freshness, silky tannins, and a remarkably perfumed profile of violets, cassis, and crushed rock.
Bottle Size:
OWC CASE – Each bottle is 750 mL
Storage History:
Always stored on its side in a climate-controlled cellar.
Condition:
Outstanding condition, as shown.
