2019 Orin Swift Mercury Head Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
A$279.59
Availability:
In stock
SKU
OSMHCS19
A barrel selection of the winery's best Cabernet, the backbone of the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Mercury Head comes from three vineyards: Stagecoach, Morisoli and Taplin-Lewelling. It's roughly similar in new-oak content to the rest of the Orin Swift wines, coming in at 43% new, enough to imprint hints of cedar on the cherry and cassis fruit. Full-bodied and silky, it's big, rich and concentrated, without being heavy, while finishing long and mouthwatering, with softly dusty tannins and a hint of warmth.
95 points Joe Czerwinski robertparker.com June 2022
Winemaker Dave Phinney grew up a West LA kid and attended boarding school in Squaw Valley. "I thought I wanted to be an attorney," he told me, as we sat down at Louis Martini to taste through his latest wines for Orin Swift. He majored in political science, interned with a public defender and a politician. "I decided I didn't want to do those," he said. While in Florence as part of his University of Arizona studies, he fell in love with wine. Phinney interned with a professor in the agriculture department to plant a vineyard in Tucson, then after graduation sent his resume to 50 wineries in Napa and got one response—from Robert Mondavi Winery. "I worked the night shift (3 p.m. – 1 a.m.) for harvest in ‘97—the only white guy on an all-Mexican crew." In 1998, Phinney started Orin (his dad's middle name) Swift (his mother's maiden name). "I bulked out that initial vintage," he said. "As we were growing Orin Swift, we got to a point (120,000 cases) where we were going to have to be a wine sales company," said Phinney. He sold Orin Swift to Gallo in 2016. "Now, I have to understand sales, but I don't have to deal with it. It's allowed me to spend a lot more time in the vineyards, the winery and coming up with new brands." These are unabashedly fruit-forward and super-ripe wines, with alcohol levels that come sometimes exceed 16%. Yet they avoid coming across as hot or raisiny. In many respects, they remind me of McLaren Vale's Mollydooker wines: big, bold, and ripe, with a certain extroverted appeal.
A familiar nose of pedigree, the wine opens with aromatics of ripe raspberry, blackcurrant, cigar box and a hint of fresh sandalwood shavings and Herbs de Provence—mysteriously intriguing at first but evolving into a thoroughbred with time and air. Dense and layered on the palate, an immediate note of mixed berry strudel topped with fresh cream, fresh black raspberry and soft tannins akin to baking chocolate transition to a finish of both nuance and concentration. Still young, the wine will continue to evolve gracefully while retaining its luscious quality and classic Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon nature.
| Product/Service Sold Out | No |
|---|---|
| En Primeur | No |
| New Arrivals | No |
| Wine Type | Red Wine |
| Wine Style | Traditional |
| Country | USA |
| Region | Napa Valley |
| Varietals | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Vintage | 2019 |
| Bottle Size | 750ml |
| Wine Points | 95 |
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