Cliff Lede Poetry SLD Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 750ml

100 pointsWine Advocate

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Poetry is a blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it sails out of the glass with energetic scents of fresh blackcurrants, black cherries and black raspberries, plus hints of candied violets, dark chocolate, clove oil and fragrant earth. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is exquisitely fine-knitted with tons of graceful nuances intertwined with the many shades of black fruits, accented by SO MANY minerals, finishing epically long and staggeringly gorgeous. WOW! (LPB)

98 pointsDecante

After 21 months in 80% new French oak barrels, this Cabernet blend was selected from the best lots of Cliff Lede’s Poetry Vineyard. Superbly elegant, with savoury dark berry aromas, lavender and dried sage, a hint of smoke and grilled meat. Off-the-charts richness that unfolds in seductive, silken waves of sweet, ripe black and blue fruits. A seamless integration of mid-palate fruit weight with building tannins that are fine-grained, almost feathery, framed by a refreshing bit firm acid backbone. A Cabernet with real gravitas and dimension. Showing beautifully now, it will unwind in great fashion over the long haul. (JC)(6/2022)

97 pointsJeb Dunnuck

Lastly, the flagship is the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Poetry, which checks in as 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot, and 4% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that’s all from a site in Stags Leap. Lots of pure crme de cassis, ripe black raspberries, flowers, spice box, and chalky minerality emerge on the nose, and it hits the palate with a refined, full-bodied, incredibly polished style that brings serious intensity, yet with no sensation of weight or heaviness. It’s brilliant today, but it really deserves 3-4 years of bottle age, and as with all of the wines here, it is going to evolve gracefully for 20+ years. 97+