Screaming Eagle, 'The Flight', Napa Valley, California, 2019

Overview of the Wine
Screaming Eagle is one of Napa Valley's smallest wineries. The little stone winery is perched on a rocky hillside in the Oakville Appellation overlooking the vineyard planted in Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The wine is aged in 65% new French oak barrels for almost two years. Annual production is approximately 500 cases with most wine sold directly to consumers via a mailing list. The winery's first release was approximately 200 cases of the 1992 vintage.

To understand the wines made by The Hilt, one might need to come visit the hard and harsh conditions under which they are born. The unobstructed, ocean facing east-west valley known as Sta. Rita Hills Valley is a complex AVA. One could divide it into four quadrants: northern-facing, southern-facing, close to the ocean, and further inland from the ocean. With such a frame, The Hilt’s favorite vineyards are in the northern-facing, closest to the ocean, windswept quadrant. These sites are the worst place for a grape grower, but the best ones for a winemaker. Rancho Salsipuedes, where The Hilt wines make their home, provides vineyards planted on land nearly 13 unobstructed miles from the ocean on the west. This unique, large and sprawling property offers a range of altitudes, aspects, soil types, and microclimates, giving winemaker Matt Dees a patchwork of vineyard parcels from which to select grapes and create wines with distinctive styles.

Diverse though it may be, Salsipuedes possesses some aspects that remain consistent: the land has poor soils that force vines to dig deep; there are powerful, whipping winds and a cold maritime climate that allow grapes on the property to ripen slowly and retain acidity despite the warm daytime sun; and the vines on the property are low in vigor, allowing them to produce low yields of concentrated, complex grapes. It is with these three important components – poor soils, whipping winds and a cool maritime climate along with low vigor vines – that Salsipuedes defines itself in the Sta. Rita Hills.

Grape / Blend
65% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Cabernet Franc

Origin
Oakville, Napa Valley, California

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
The Flight by Screaming Eagle is from the iconic vineyards in Oakville. It is primarily Merlot based and a beautiful expression on Napa from the very expressive 2019 vintage produced velvety wines with great balance. One of California’s original Cult Wines Screaming Eagle is one of the original Californian "cult wines". Screaming Eagle's vineyard is ideally situated on soils that are extremely rocky on a west-facing slope east of the Napa River. The grapes are cooled by the afternoon breezes that blow north from San Pablo Bay which creates the ideal conditions for top-quality Napa wines.

99 Points - James Suckling
Extremely floral and aromatic with violets and lavender throughout. Black olives, too. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, very fine-grained tannins that run the length of the wine. Goes on for minutes. A greenish undertone comes out at the end with some spearmint, green tea and green olive. About two-thirds merlot. Best after 2028, but already stunning.

97 Points - Vinous
The 2019 The Flight, the estate's Merlot-based wine, is dark, powerful and brooding in demeanor, almost shockingly so. The natural concentration of a year with low yields and small berries is very much in evidence. A rush of black cherry, plum, graphite, lavender and blue/purplish fruit builds as this virile, explosive wine shows off its arresting beauty. In a word: impressive. Reviewed by Antonio Galloni, October 2021. Drinking window: 2027-2044.

Product size: 750ml