2010 Screaming Eagle Sauvignon Blanc

When I first heard of the white wine from Screaming Eagle, I was quite surprised. Although I know that some parts of Napa Valley can produce world class wines from Sauvignon Blanc (or at least, as good as a wine from Sauvignon Blanc outside Bordeaux can be), I couldn't imagine that Screaming Eagle would ever make one.

   Very if, if any, could ever have thought that. Actually, not even one of the new owners since 2005, Charles Banks, thought about it.

"Well, when we studied the vineyard, we knew we had to replant it in a much better way, we couldn't just continue to make the wine in the same way as Jean Phillips and her winemaker Heidi Peterson-Barrett did, we had the worlds eyes on us", he said to me a few weeks ago.

"And we found a spot in the northwestern corner of our vineyard, that I found to be much better suited for Sauvignon Blanc than Cabernet Sauvignon or Franc, and Merlot actually doesn't perform very well in our vineyard", he added.
   The Sauvignon Blanc grapes were never intended to be a commercial wine, if they ever should make it themselves, and if so, I was to be used for PR tastings and dinners, and as a giveaway.
   But with the 2010 vintage, the now sole owner Stanley Kroenke, decided to sell it on the mailing list. It's now even more rare and sought after than the red Screaming Eagle. And it is of course the talk of the day since very people have tasted it, or even seen a bottle or a picture of a bottle.

2010 Screaming Eagle Sauvignon Blanc / 93 p

This is a 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc from a small lot in the northwestern section of the vineyard, planted in 2006. The grapes are harvested at full phenolic ripeness, but still with a high acidity (and there's no acidification taken place at Screaming Eagle since 2005). The juice is fermented in two small new French oak barrels, to a alcohol level of just above 14 percent.
   The nose is quite intense and open, fresh and floral with nuances of lilies and summer meadow (grass and small flowers) and with that typical California sauvignon touch of passion fruit. A part from a small note of vanilla, the oak is extremely well integrated.
   On the palate it's medium full, very elegant and pure with a lovely acidity to balance the intense but very elegant fruit body. The alcohol is very well balanced, and the aftertaste is long, floral, fresh and very elegant.

I tasted the wine blind with a few friends, and we were all very excited when we realized that it was the white eagle we had in our glasses. And tasted it blind, I have to say it's not at floral as the sauvignon from Araujo and their Eisele Vineyard, or as light and crisp as that of Spottswoode, or as heavy as the Robert Mondavi I-Block Fumé Blanc from very old vines in To Kalon Vineyard, and it's not oak spicy as the great sauvignon from Vineyard 29 and the Georgia of Lail Vineyard. It's more elegant and complex that those other very great sauvignons of Napa Valley.

   It's actually one of the best, if not the best, sauvignon I have tasted in California, yet. However, it comes with an extremely high price, $250 plus tax from the winery, or $1500 to 1700 on the second hand market.
Drink it over the next 5-6 years.

2004 Screaming Eagle

Talking or writing about ”the eagle” is always controversial. Within a second or two, words and opinions about taste verses quality and price will come up, no matter you like it or not. The answer to that adequate and most welcome question is; will the wines of Napa Valley stand up to the competition and reputation of the finest wines from Bordeaux, and will they ever be worth the price?
In one way, it’s quite easy to answer that question, but then it always comes down to personal taste and expectation, if you can and are willing to spend that much money on a bottle of wine, and for what reason you want to buy particular wine.

To start with, yes, with no doubt the best cabernets of Napa Valley are very much up to the competition with the very finest of Bordeaux, whatever reasons the Francophiles give you to reject that idea. (Or fact!) They’re not likely to enjoy these wines anyway, since most Francophiles believes that Roussillon is this world most southern wine region, and Bordeaux is the only region able to produce great cabernet wines.

Quality is not only about taste, since taste is foremost a personal thing. Quality is numerous factors such as ripeness, level and maturity of tannins, overall aromatic profile, level of acidity, cleanliness, oak flavor (oh, yes, the oak is also very forward in young wines from Bordeaux), balance, the way the aftertaste lingers or not, also how well the wine corresponds to its grape varieties and origin. These factors all play an important role in what makes a great wine. In that sense, Napa Valley is as good as Bordeaux, but to be honest more even over vintages – which may be considered as a great advantage.
I fully understand that prices on so called cult wines of Napa Valley sometimes are crazy, still there’s enough people to buy them at the mailing list (at full prices) and even on the second hand market (at silly prices). So, what’s so fuzzy about that?
Even though some of these wines are truly great – Harlan Estate, Araujo Eisele Vineyard, Dalla Valle Maya, Bryant Family, Grace Family, et al – they are not wines for everyone. Nobody complains about the price of a fabulous car or a fantastic villa for several million dollars, since we all know they’re not for us. Still we make loud noise about certain wines we no longer can afford to buy.
Screaming Eagle is one of those wines. And it is a very, very delicious wine. It’s never powerful or overly ripe or alcoholic, its build on finesse and the sense of its birthplace, the reddish volcanic soil in the eastern section of Oakville.

I once asked winemakers Andy Erickson and Massimo di Costanzo how much they have made experiments since they came aboard at Screaming Eagle in 2006, and what these experiments resulted in. “First of all, we have full respect for what Jean Phillips and her winemaker Heidi Peterson-Barrett have achieved over the years, still we wanted to see if we could make the wine even better – but almost whatever experiments we did regarding maceration and extraction, the personality of the vineyard stood out”, they replied. It’s really a great terroir, just as at any château with a great reputation in Médoc.
After tasting their first vintages 2006 and 2007, I’ve noticed that the style has not changed, although the wines seem to be a bit more intense, still not ripe and heave – at least at this young stage. Perhaps that’s just the vintages?

2004 Screaming Eagle / 95-96 p
There’s always around 10-15 percent Cabernet Franc and Merlot in the blend, and some cold soak before the fermentation starts. Fermentation takes place in small stainless steel tanks with a capacity of 15 hectoliters, and the winemaker (in this vintage Heidi Peterson-Barrett) works with a combination of pigeage and remontage, and always very gentle. There should never be any sharp edges in the eagle. While almost all cult wines are raised in brand new French oak barrels, Screaming Eagle only sees 60-65 percent of new oak. The ageing is around 18-20 months, and there’s no filtration or clarification prior to bottling.
I decanted this wine four hours before serving it, which was needed. At first it was quite closed although slightly sweet on the nose, after all – this is the 2004 vintage, which was warm and gave the wines a riper and slightly more sweetish fruit. After a couple of hours, the wine opened up to be more intense and perfumed with is typical cassis notes. We tasted it with other cult wines this time, and as always the Screaming Eagle is the most elegant and silky (unless you pour it next to the Grace Family wine). The oak is extremely well integrated – nowhere in my tasting notes there’s a work of oak. I rather describe the texture as seamless as velvet. If one needs to complain on a small detail, the acidity may be a bit low (typical for the 2004 vintage), but not to that extent it makes the wine unbalanced.
What’s really interesting is to see how much the wine evolves during the five hours the wine spent in the decanter, and our glasses. If you look for pure power, this is not the wine for you. If you prefer balance and finesse, and a fine tuned flavor profile with great intensity, this is something to look for. Well, if you find it, and if you can afford it!
It was $300 on the mailing list – the 2005 vintage was $500 – but on the second hand market you have to be prepared to pay anything from $1200 to $1800, unfortunately.
Drink it 2010-2024.

Screaming Eagle vintages 2005, 2001 and 1996

The Eagle, that’s the cult wine of all cult wines. Not the best, but the one most sought after. And the one with the most extreme price tag – 750 dollar from the winery for the few chosen ones who are on the magic list, and 1 500 to 3 000 dollars per bottle for the people who buys it on the second hand market. I could easily write a book on this estate and its wine (only one wine made), and perhaps I will in the future. For now, I’d like to focus on these wines, all made by the legendary wine maker Heidi Peterson-Barrett, since the new ownership at Screaming Eagle not longer in there. (New winemaker is the new superstar Andy Erickson.)
The 23.85 hectare big vineyard, in the eastern part of Oakville, has a unique combination of soil (a red, iron rich volcanic soil) and exposure, and talking to Andy and on site winemaker Massimo di Costanzo (kudos to him) it’s really something special out there. “We’ve tried to polish the winemaking practices, only to find that the terroir always beat us”, says Andy. I guess that’s the great thing about Screaming Eagle.
The wine is made from somewhere between 83 to 88 per cent of Cabernet Sauvignon, 10 to 15 percent of Merlot and a splash of Cabernet Franc. After some days of cold soak, fermentation is carried out in small stainless steel tanks and two small open top fermenters in French oak (since 2007 also in small cement tanks), and the wine is then transferred into French oak barrels, of which 60-65 per cent are new. Some 18-20 months later, the wine is bottled. Then the big war starts! Whoever get the bottles at release price, is the winner!

2005 Screaming Eagle / 97 p
It’s still so young, and densely concentrated – and based on previous impressions of young Screaming Eagle, I found it to be a bit more powerful and rich, and also closed, than expected. I took almost one hour in the decanter for the more common cassis aromas to be expressed. At first, it was a bit closed, almost shy, although the sommelier decanted it one hour before I tasted it, but during the next hour, it really opened up! From a red fruit nose, then the roast of the lightly toasted French barrels, then the dark purple fruit explosion – wow, it’s so much going on here. Talking about fruits, there’s more blueberries than cassis in this vintage, perhaps that’s a vintage thing, or a new style. Anyhow, the overall impression is the same as in all vintages I have tasted of this extremely rare wine – the sensual and silky texture, which I believe derives from the soil, the terroir. It’s like a body builder in a silk costume. To get the best out of this beauty, I would give it some more years of bottle age, or at least two hours in a decanter. If at all you get your hand of a bottle.
Drink it 2012-2025.

2001 Screaming Eagle / 96 p
I’ve had this wine a few times, and the last time, it didn’t show as well as in previous tastings. No wonder why, it was poured next to Sloan, Araujo, Abreu, Bond and Harlan wines, all of 2001 vintage. In a tasting like this, Screaming Eagle is always one of the most elegant wines. It’s never built on power and concentration, and its tannins are silky and smooth, remember this is a valley floor vineyard, although on a gentle slope with a great soil. The fruit leans more towards black currants with some grassy notes, rather than dark berries, and it’s lighter and more aromatic than it it’s fellow cult wines. It took and hour for the wine to open up and show more complex qualities, but all the way through the taste, it’s a lovely, elegant and fine tuned wine with a delicious mineral note in elegant and lingering aftertaste. If served today, decanting a good hour ahead is recommended – then you’ll get more of the elegant Bordeaux like notes.
Drink it 2010-2020.

1996 Screaming Eagle / 95 p
This is a somehow ignored vintage, which is quite normal since it came between the greater vintages of 1994 and 1997, and even the very good 1995. Nevertheless, many of the 1996s are lovely to drink today, and the Screaming Eagle is one of them. It one of the lighter and even more elegant vintages of this wine, still with the typical cassis aromatics, smoothness and fine tannins, today with small but complex notes of secondary aromas – earth, tobacco and cedar. It’s a delicious and elegant rather than great wine.
Drink it over the next 5-8 years.