Screaming Eagle: Since the first commercial release in 1992, Screaming Eagle has become one of the most sought-after California Cult Wines. Under then owner, Jean Phillip, with the assistance of winemaker, Heidi Barrett, the 1990's produced an amazing decade of high quality, low production wines sure to be the prize of many fine wine collections! 

Screaming Eagle Wine Ratings (1992 to 1999):

1992 Screaming Eagle - RP 99 - This small operation is located just below the Dalla Valle vineyard near the Oakville Cross. Screaming Eagle's Cabernet Sauvignons are going to create quite a stir among lovers of that varietal - if they are able to latch onto a bottle or two. The estate is owned by Tony Bowden and Jean Phillips, one of Napa Valley's leading real estate agents. With the help of Heidi Barrett and Gustav Dalla Valle, this operation's debut vintage is the extraordinary 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon, one of the greatest young Cabernets I have ever tasted. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered, and aged in 60% new oak. It is only sold via a mailing list, so readers who want to taste one of the most exciting young wines being produced should get on the list. The 175 cases of the 1992 are followed by only 130 cases of the 1993, and a tiny quantity of 1994, as the last two vintages were even smaller in crop size. At present, the 1992 can be bought at the following Napa Valley locations: the restaurants Don Giovanni and Brava, and at the St. Helena Wine Center and Oakville Grocery. Don't dilly-dally around on this one.
 
The 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon is exceptionally impressive. The wine's opaque purple color is followed by a sensational nose of jammy blackcurrants and subtle toasty oak. As stunning as the aromatics are, the wine reveals even greater richness and intensity on the palate, offering up layers of stunningly proportioned, ripe, intense fruit, full body, great purity, and an inner-core of sweet, creamy, highly extracted blackcurrant/cassis fruit. The tannin is nearly concealed behind the massive extract and richness. All the component parts are brilliantly focused and in balance. The finish is awesome! This is a spectacular debut release that should age effortlessly for 20 years.

1993 Screaming Eagle - RP 97 - The 1993 Cabernet Sauvignon is a remarkable wine, not dissimilar from the 1992. The 1993 reveals an opaque purple color, as well as a rich, jammy, pure nose of blackcurrant/cassis fruit intertwined with scents of minerals and high quality, spicy oak. The wine offers a cascade of lavishly rich, opulently textured, super-extracted fruit that is beautifully buttressed by oak and sweet tannin. Remarkably long, pure, and rich, this is a compelling Cabernet Sauvignon with no hard edges. Perfectly balanced, marvelously concentrated, and exciting, look for this wine to drink well young, but keep for 25 years.
 
As exciting as these wines are, as a critic, my emotions are mixed because of the extremely limited quantities available. My advice - get on the winery's mailing list as quantities will be more abundant starting in 1996.
 
This microscopic winery located near the Oakville Crossroads, just below Dalla Valle, created quite a stir among the handful of Cabernet lovers who were able to latch onto a bottle when proprietor Jean Phillips released her debut wine - the 1992. The wine is sold exclusively via a mailing list. On the few occasions I have been fortunate enough to taste it, the 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon has been inching toward a three-digit score. It is unquestionably one of the greatest Cabernet Sauvignons I have tasted. From a quantitative perspective, the news on future availability is depressing. Because of phylloxera, there are only 135 cases of the 1993 Cabernet Sauvignon (a worthy candidate for wine of the vintage), 175 cases of the 1994, and a whopping 225 cases of the 1995. However, with new plantings coming into production, the outlook will improve; 500 cases of the 1996 will be made. A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc, this wine is made by winemaker/consultant Heidi Barrett. Before his death, Gustav Dalla Valle also provided considerable input.

1994 Screaming Eagle - RP 94 - The 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon is performing even better this year than it was last. I still believe the 1995 has a slight edge, but that may be more noticeable 8-10 years from now than at present. The opaque purple-colored 1994's forward, gorgeously-scented nose offers up a smorgasbord of black fruits, along with a subtle dosage of toasty oak and minerals. Full-bodied, with a seamless, lush texture, this is a profoundly generous wine with everything going for it. The finish lasts for 35 seconds. As gorgeous as it is, this wine can be drunk young, or cellared for 20-25 years. What makes Screaming Eagle such an extraordinary wine is its remarkably sweet, lavishly rich, opulently-textured, super-extracted black currant and black cherry fruitiness. Moreover, they are admirably pure, layered, velvety, and accessible. As delicious as these wines are young, they should age for 20 or more years, because of their extraordinary equilibrium.

1995 Screaming Eagle - RP 99 - The 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon is as close to a perfect wine as I could hope to taste. This opaque purple-colored wine exhibits a sensational purity of black currant fruit, intermixed with a notion of raspberries, violets, and well-disguised sweet vanillin. Full-bodied, with remarkable intensity, exquisite symmetry, and a mid-palate and finish to die for, this is a compelling, astonishingly seductive Cabernet Sauvignon that can be drunk now, or cellared for 20-25 years. I may have done this wine a disservice by not giving it the big 3-digit score.
 
As I have tried so hard to articulate in past reviews, what makes these wines so stunning is the black currant/cassis fruit. Screaming Eagle may be the most extravagantly pure and rich expression of cassis one can find ... short of drinking cassis liqueur. There is an unbelievable purity to these wines, as well as phenomenal concentration and richness, yet in no sense are they heavy, ponderous, or out of balance.

1996 Screaming Eagle - RP 98 - The newly-released 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon reveals lots of structure, an opaque purple color, and the hallmark blackberry and cassis liqueur-like notes. Silky-textured, fabulously-concentrated, and gorgeously-balanced, it has every component part - acidity, alcohol, tannin, and extract - flawlessly presented.

1997 Screaming Eagle - RP 100 - It doesn't get any better than 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon, a perfect wine. Representing the essence of cassis liqueur intermixed with blackberries, minerals, licorice, and toast, this full-bodied, multi-dimensional classic is fabulous, with extraordinary purity, symmetry, and a finish that lasts for nearly a minute. It has the overall equilibrium to evolve for nearly two decades, but it will be hard to resist upon release.

1998 Screaming Eagle - RP 94 - The 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon, which was bottled in late June, has turned out even better that I thought last year. It boasts a saturated ruby/purple color in addition to an expressive bouquet of cassis, minerals, and smoke. This multi-textured, round wine exhibits sweet, well-integrated tannin, a great mid-palate and finish, as well as spectacular purity and palate presence. Consume it now and over the next 15-20 years.
 
There are 500 cases of this wine. As most readers know, this wine has become the ultimate collector's Cabernet Sauvignon, routinely fetching $800 to as much as $2000 a bottle at wine auctions. Of course, this makes no sense to me or Screaming Eagle's owner, the amiable Jean Phillips, who sells the wine for $125 a bottle. Unquestionably an exquisite wine, it offers remarkably rich creme de cassis aromas and flavors in an unmanipulated, compelling fashion. The winemaking is assisted by well-known consultant Heidi Barrett. From the red, iron-rich soils of the Oakville District, the wine is aged in 65% new French oak for 18-20 months.

1999 Screaming Eagle - RP 97 - The bottled 1999 (a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc) is as profound as I predicted a year and a half ago. It boasts an opaque purple color along with a gorgeously pure nose of creme de cassis, charcoal, and floral characteristics. The wine is opulent, dense, and rich, with exceptional purity, a viscous texture, and impressive underlying tannin that frames its large but elegant personality. Not surprisingly, this is a candidate for the wine of the vintage.