Joseph Phelps Vineyards: 1989 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

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When we produced our first Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (the 1975 vintage, released in the fall of 1979), we knew it would be well-received, but the impact of this wine in the marketplace far exceeded our expectations. "Asked what is the greatest California Cabernet I've drunk," wrote Robert Parker, Jr., in 1983, "I would undoubtedly say the 1975 Eisele Vineyard from Phelps." In the October, 1988 Wine Advocate, Parker went on to review 10 vintages of the wine (six of which scored 90 or above), and introduced them as follows:

"The Eisele Vineyard Cabernet, from Milton Eisele's dry-farmed vineyard in Northern Napa Valley just east of Calistoga, produces some of the most intense and richest fruit of the entire valley. Its characteristics are not only the great depth and purity of black currant fruit, but a mineral violet and licorice component that comes out in the wines as they age."

In 1990, the Eisele's Calistoga property was sold to Bart and Daphne Araujo, who began plans to build a winery and market wine under their own label. The 1989 vintage was our second-to-last bottling of the wine (the 1991 vintage was the last), and accordingly may be of interest to collectors who hold vertical selections of Eisele Cabernet.

Full of the rich, earthy, black currant component that has made the wine a favorite of collectors for almost two decades, the 1989 version is still youthful, but with softer tannins and more approachable flavors than many of our past bottlings.