shipping included on 4 bottles

Cabernet Sauvignon 84%, Merlot 11%, Petit Verdot 2%, Cabernet Franc 2%, Malbec 1%Consistent and continuous perfect 100 point ratings do tend to attract a wine lover’s attention and recent vintages of Spottswoode’s Estate Cabernet Sauvignon have made it one of America’s most coveted wines. But, while thirsty wine lovers relentlessly comb the world for the ‘perfect’ wine, it might be easy to overlook a nearly perfect one- one made virtually the same way, in the same cellar, by the same winemaker, but costing far, far less. I just wanted to make sure that didn’t happen to you. In his own pursuit of perfection each harvest, Spottswoode winemaker Aron Weinkauf declassifies several barrels of lovely Spottswoode estate fruit he feels don’t add anything to the final Spottswoode blend. He combines them with the fruit from several other esteemed (and always organically farmed) Napa Valley sites like Robert Sinskey Vineyard, Rahn Estate on Howell Mountain, Young-Inglewood and Darms Lane Vineyard to create a ‘second’ wine called Lyndenhurst- the name of the Spottswoode property before the Novaks purchased it back in the early 1970s. While created to be more approachable and easier on the pocketbook, Lyndenhurst is very much cut from the same cloth as its big brother. ‘Polish’ and ‘panache’ are two bywords that always seem apropos of anything coming out of Spottwoode’s cellars and they definitely apply to Weinkauf’s 2022 Lyndenhurst. Tasted side-by-side with Spottswoode’s 2022 Estate, the similarities seemed to clearly outweigh the differences. Both are dark, aromatic and burnished to a fine obsidian finish. Both share an aromatic profile built around black currants or Kirsch, Indian spice, fruit cake, mocha/coffee and Rutherford-style ‘dust.’ Both dance across the palate with the silkiness one always associates with this property. You could say that the Spottswoode Estate is a bit higher pitched and tannic, while Lyndenhurst is a bit richer and immediate in its appeal. Neither lacks for texture, intensity or structure. We think the Spottswoode is a long-term proposition and will probably be at its best in a decade or two while Lyndenhurst can be enjoyed much sooner, but may last nearly as long. Both are really sensational. The Estate Cab wine arrives later in the summer, but for more immediate gratification, a few bottles of Lyndenhurst might very well be the ticket! Very highly recommended!