2018 Abreu Vineyards, Madrona Ranch, Napa Valley, California, USA
Critics reviews
The 2018 Madrona Ranch is stunning in its beauty. The aromatics alone are mesmerizing, as is the wine's transparency. Dried flowers, licorice, lavender and leather lend striking fragrant dimension. More than anything else, the 2018 impresses for its textural finesse and overall elegance, qualities that were rarely found in the Madrona Ranch a few years ago, when the wines were much more extracted and tannic.
Brad Grimes showed me an extraordinary range of wines during my most recent visit. Grimes’ career in wine began in the early 2000s, when the prevailing style in Napa Valley was very different from today, so it has been interesting to watch the slow yet deliberate move towards a more refined style here. Grimes doesn’t say much, but he doesn’t need to. The wines say it all.
Abreu fans will want to note that beginning in 2019, Thorevilos is made from a new site not too far away from the original vineyard. It’s a site Abreu planted years ago and is in the process of redeveloping. It will be fascinating where Thorevilos 2.0 goes. Knowing the drive Abreu and Grimes share, I am betting they will look to surpass their previous efforts.
Last, but certainly not least, the 2018 Rothwell Hyde is fabulous and a great choice for readers who choose not to splurge on the more expensive wines in this lineup.
Drink 2026 - 2043
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (January 2022)
Like the other vintages tasted on this occasion (2016 and 2017), the 2018 Madrona Ranch Proprietary Red is massively concentrated. But what sets it apart from those other great wines is its greater degree of integration and flow. From start to nearly infinite finish, the flavors of ripe cassis, dark chocolate and purple raspberries ease across the full-bodied palate in a seamless, velvety swell of lusciousness, without ever seeming heavy or overdone. Of all the amazing wines I tasted at Abreu this year, this one rises above the others.
Drink 2025 - 2045
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate (September 2022)
Lastly, the 2018 Madrona Ranch is qualitatively in the same ballpark yet is slightly deeper and richer, with bigger tannins and more notable structure. It has plenty of ripe black fruits as well as notes of scorched earth, graphite, tobacco, and crushed stone. As with all of Brad's 2018s, the purity of fruit is truly exceptional, it's perfectly balanced, has a singular character, and the class to drink well today yet cruise for upwards of three decades if stored properly.
Drink 2021 - 2051
Jeb Dunnuck. JebDunnuck.com (December 2021)
About this WINE
Abreu Vineyards
David Abreu was born into a family of ranchers in the Napa Valley district of California, and spent most of his youth working in the first ever Napa vineyards.
In the 1980s David purchased Madrona Ranch, which he developed into vineyards and farmland. This is where it all started, and was the first property David ever purchased. With Madrona being a hugely diverse plot of land, many grape blending options were available to David, each with their own complexity of flavours.
A little later, he purchased the Cappella vineyards, one of the oldest in St. Helena. Because of the diseased rootstock that lay there, it took David six years before he managed to grow the new vines into a healthy condition. He had tasted the Cappella fruit in the 70s, and new it would be worth the hard work.
Thorevilos was one of the places David spent a lot of his childhood. Situated between St. Helena and Howell Mountain, the soil there is perfect for grape growing. So David cultivated the land.
In 2000, David purchased Howell Mountain which sits at about 2000 feet elevation, and is surrounded by a protected pine tree forest. Before vine planting, David removed, stacked and preserved a large quantity of redwood stakes, for use in a later life. All the Abreu Vineyards are made up of Cabernet blends.
St. Helena
St. Helena is situated in the heart of Napa Valley, in California, approximately midway between the towns of Napa and Calistoga. It is known for its picturesque vineyards and is a central hub within the Napa Valley wine-growing region.
Like much of Napa Valley, St. Helena experiences a Mediterranean climate characterised by warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The climate is well-suited for grape cultivation, particularly for Cabernet Sauvignon, the region's flagship varietal.
The soils are diverse, ranging from gravelly and alluvial soils to volcanic and sedimentary deposits. These varied soil types contribute to the complexity and unique characteristics of wines produced in the region.
St. Helena is known for producing high-quality wines, emphasising Cabernet Sauvignon. Other varietals, such as Merlot, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay, are also cultivated in the area. The region is home to several renowned wineries and vineyards that have significantly shaped the reputation of Napa Valley wines. Some notable wineries include Beringer Vineyards, and Heitz Wine Cellars.
Cabernet Sauvignon
The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.
It is adaptable to a wide range of soils, although it performs particularly well on well-drained, low-fertile soils. It has small, dusty, black-blue berries with thick skins that produce deeply coloured, full-bodied wines with notable tannins. Its spiritual home is the Médoc and Graves regions of Bordeaux where it thrives on the well-drained gravel-rich soils producing tannic wines with piercing blackcurrant fruits that develop complex cedarwood and cigar box nuances when fully mature.
The grape is widely planted in California where Cabernet Sauvignon based wines are distinguished by their rich mixture of cassis, mint, eucalyptus and vanilla oak. It is planted across Australia and with particular success in Coonawarra where it is suited to the famed Terra Rossa soil. In Italy barrique aged Cabernet Sauvignon is a key component in Super Tuscans such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, either on its own or as part of a blend with Sangiovese.
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Description
A compelling concentrated black velvet greets you from the glass. A barolesque hint of tea leaves and dark fruits if left for a little while linger on the nose. This is certainly not for the light-hearted as it has an abundance of tannins, with a mixture of blackberry and boysenberry, that I am sure will soften with time. Leave to rest for a few years and I am sure this will not disappoint.
Ben Evans, Account Manager, Berry Bros. & Rudd
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