2021 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Eisele Vineyard epitomizes why single-vineyard wines exist: because it offers a unique balance of elegance and power and stands alone in this part of the Valley for quality. It’s why Eisele Vineyard wines (long under the Araujo label) have been lighting up the scoreboards for decades. And it’s why Lisa Perotti-Brown, former Editor-In-Chief of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, just awarded it 100 points, concluding her review with, “Wow!”

Milt and Barbara Eisele purchased the site in the ‘60s, giving it their name and converting it to Cabernet Sauvignon. For the first few years, the fruit was sold to Robert Mondavi. The Eisele name would start appearing on Ridge bottles shortly thereafter, when Paul Draper made it just the third vineyard-designated Cabernet bottled in Napa. Conn Creek and Joseph Phelps tapped Eisele for fruit as well.

Tipped off about the estate by the founder of Screaming Eagle, Daphne and Bart Araujo purchased it in 1990. They converted it first to organic farming, then upped the ante again by integrating biodynamics. Former owner Bart Araujo loved how wines from here offered “weight but without heaviness.” The team at Château Latour was so impressed by Eisele that they purchased it in 2013. 

Today’s 2021 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley dazzles with its deep purple-black hue, slowly unveiling a fragrant bouquet of violet petals, fresh roses, and ripe kirsch, intertwined with luscious boysenberry and cassis. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is confidently structured, its firm, ripe tannins and bright acidity framing layers of vibrant black and red fruit. It’s a captivating and graceful expression of the 2021 vintage, balancing power with refined elegance.