Sloan
Estate was founded in 1997 when Stuart Sloan purchased 40 acres of land in the
eastern hills of the Rutherford AVA, which gave him a nice view of Auberge du
Soleil sitting just below his property. Sloan
quickly put together an all-star team to help accomplish his goal of making one
of the greatest Cabernet Sauvignons in all of Napa Valley. He hired famed Vineyard Manager, David
Abreu to plant 13 acres of the property with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,
Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot vines on the mineral-rich, porous soil of
fractured volcanic rock and sandy loam. The
perfect blend of white tufa soil, a cool marine influence, and generous sun
exposure forms the ideal site for growing fruit of a distinct quality and
crafting exceptional wines that are compelling expressions of these elements. He basically had just planted on a
goldmine. Mark Aubert was hired
as winemaker for Sloan and made the first vintage in 2000 and up until Martha
McClellan (Harlan, Levy & McClellan, Checkerboard among
the wines on her resume) took over winemaking in 2004. When the initial 2000 vintage was released in
2004, it was clear Sloan Estate's luscious, dense and complex Bordeaux Blends were
not to be taken lightly. Along with
world-renowned consulting oenologist Michel Rolland, this A-list team
has been responsible for handcrafting these epically exquisite and celebrated
wines ever since. With a limited annual
production of 600 cases, 100-point scores by critics many times over, and a
super-exclusive mailing list reserved for the most elite and long-standing collectors,
procuring Sloan Estate wines is next to impossible. But not today, not here...
The
estate's flagship wine since its inaugural 2000 vintage, the SLOAN Proprietary
Red is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot.
It has a unique character that stems from their estate's Sacrashe Vineyard high
above the Rutherford valley floor.
Layered with remarkable complexity and intensity of flavors and aromas,
Sloan exhibits a gorgeous tension between elements of grace and power, balance
and opulence, as well as age and vibrancy.
It is a precise wine with defined structure and immense aging potential
and at the same time, a seductive wine of exceptional fruit finesse, minerality,
and with a multi-layered mouthfeel.
Crafted with meticulous care from vine to bottle and exacting standards
for achieving the highest quality, this uninhibitedly rich and extraordinarily
pure wine is a beautiful, raw expression of the estate's terroir.
"This
is a barrel sample blended of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 8% Cabernet
Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, to be bottled the first week of February 2019. Deep
garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Proprietary Red opens with fragrant notions of
candied violets, chocolate box and baking spices with a core of blackcurrant
cordial, preserved plums and blackberry compote with touches of garrigue and
menthol. Full-bodied, rich and packed with black fruits sparked by tons of
cinnamon and cloves accents, it has a firm, velvety-textured frame and great
freshness, finishing with epic persistence."
~Lisa Perotti-Brown/The Wine Advocate, 100 Points.
"The
2016 Proprietary Red is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon with the balance Merlot,
Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. Tasting like a mix of the 2013 and 2014 with
its incredible elegance and power, it reveals a deep purple hue as well as
extraordinary notes of crème de cassis, crushed violets, lead pencil, and
unsmoked tobacco. Ethereally textured, seamless, and full-bodied, it builds
incrementally on the palate and is a monster of a wine that somehow stays
light, graceful and elegant. It should hit maturity after a decade of cellaring
and be a 40- to 50-year wine." ~Jeb
Dunnuck, 99 Points.
