Current Vintage: 2021
Grapes: 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot
Accendo Cellars is the creation of Bart and Daphne Araujo, whose former estate, Araujo Estate's Eisele Vineyard, helped establish a new benchmark for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. After selling the property in 2013, the family embarked on a new venture, drawing inspiration from the beautifully balanced, age-worthy California Cabernets of the 1960s and 1970s. The result is Accendo, a small-production winery dedicated to elegance, complexity and a genuine sense of place.
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon brings together fruit from exceptional vineyards across Napa Valley, with a small proportion of other traditional Bordeaux varieties adding complexity. A long, even growing season produced beautifully concentrated fruit, while careful extraction and French oak maturation preserve the wine's freshness and structure. Rather than chasing sheer power, Accendo aims for the sort of balance that allows great Cabernet to evolve gracefully over decades.
Blackcurrant, dark cherry and ripe plum meet graphite, cedar, tobacco leaf and a touch of violet. The palate is concentrated yet remarkably refined, with layers of dark fruit, finely structured tannins and a vibrant freshness that gives the wine energy. Subtle notes of cocoa, spice and crushed stone emerge through the long, savoury finish. Magnificent with prime rib, roast lamb or aged beef, although this is certainly a bottle worth giving some time in the cellar. A superb expression of Napa Cabernet, with one foot in the region's celebrated past and the other firmly in its future.
Jeb Dunnock: 100 Points
14.5% ABV
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We regret that the only products we can accept for return are faulty goods where we will provide a like-for-like replacement.
- To exchange we require the faulty product to be returned to the store.
- For returns of wines which are corked, please re-seal after tasting and return us the (nearly) full bottle. We cannot exchange if the bottle has been consumed.
- If the same product is not available, we will refund in full to the original form of payment.
- Any returns are at the customer’s expense.
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