Credit to photo: Greg Somm
Text by: Greg Somm
This column is written by The Gold Certified ASI Sommelier, Chef-sommelier of WineHall Company and a MS Diploma Candidate, Greg Somm.
What can be better than a bottle of Screaming Eagle 2010? That's right, only a Magnum of this cult wine! You can have different attitudes towards California wines of this scale. Those who will never try them will define them as super-concentrated and hyped up by American critics, boring wines. There is nothing to talk about with such people, since there is no point in arguing about the taste of oysters with people who have never tried them. Those who have tried such wines – have understood what makes them special in the contrast with great wines of Bordeaux.
This is the wine that became the first in the category of cult wines of Napa, and this can’t be undone
California Cabernet Sauvignon differs from Bordeaux in all respects. And it's not that they use American oak barrels (which is not true in most cases) and not that the grapes ripen better there. It's about the modern development of oenology. The best California wines are made by the French, with all the modern oenological tools. These wines are easy to drink in their youth today and have excellent aging potential. As for Screaming Eagle, this is the wine that became the first in the category of cult wines of Napa, and this can’t be undone, and also – there is no point in it. When Jean Phillips founded her estate, she certainly did not know about the impact it would have on modern California winemaking. After a very short time it became the embodiment of the Californian wine dream.
