2007|2009 Screaming Eagle Second Flight
-
S$1,88897
Coming Soon!
Vintage: 2007|2009
Country: USA
Region: Oakville
Screaming Eagle Winery and Vineyards is a California wine estate producing limited amounts of varietal wine; due to the small quantities produced and high prices commanded, their wines are considered cult wines. The winery is located in Oakville, California, north of the town of Napa in the Napa Valley
Screaming Eagle Winery and Vineyards is a California wine estate producing limited amounts of varietal wine; due to the small quantities produced and high prices commanded, their wines are considered cult wines. The winery is located in Oakville, California, north of the town of Napa in the Napa Valley
Screaming Eagle is one of the most iconic Napa wineries that turned into a sensation almost overnight in the early 1990s! Owning a bottle of Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon is the stuff of dreams for any wine connoisseur. A choice of a wine investment!
Screaming Eagle is a ‘cult’ Napa winery.
There’s no official definition of what qualifies a winery as having “cult” status, though its wines are typically hard to find, high quality, and extremely pricey. With just 57 acres of vineyards, and an annual production of around 500 cases, Screaming Eagle is the kind of producer that almost all enthusiasts have heard of, but very few get to try.
Robert Parker is a superfan.
Screaming Eagle received almost instantaneous fame after Napa-Cab-loving wine critic Robert Parker gave its first 1992 vintage a near-perfect 99 out of 100 rating. The winery would eventually receive the magic 100 Parker points for its 1997 vintage, as well as its 2007, 2010, and 2012 bottlings.
Screaming Eagle is California's original cult wine and still lays claim to the state'. if not the country's. most highly prized label. Produced in tiny quantities from a small vineyard in Napa's Oakville appellation, the Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine regularly sells for upwards of $3000 a bottle and is America's most expensive regularly produced wine.
The vineyards were established by former real estate agent Jean Phillips in 1986, who subsequently set about selling fruit to local producers in Napa. After a few years, the decision was made to set up a winery, and the first vintage of Screaming Eagle was released in 1992.
The highly unfluential US wine critic Robert Parker rated this first vintage at 99 points, and cult status was sealed. Since then, the 1997 and 2007 vintages both achieved the coveted 100-point rating from the famous wine critic.
Sales are made direct from the winery through a mailing list which has been full since 2000. The waiting list to get on the "mailer", as it is often known, is reputed to be several thousand names long.
Screaming Eagle's vineyard lies within the Oakville AVA in the central part of Napa Valley. The unmarked vineyard lies on the eastern side of the AVA, below the vineyards of Dalla Valle and Oakville Ranch in the foothills further east, and just north of Paraduxx in Yountville.
As is typical for the AVA, the vineyard is planted mainly to Cabernet Sauvignon with some Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and a small plot of Sauvignon Blanc.
Screaming Eagle's second wine, Second Flight, is made from the vineyard's younger vines, and a white wine, the Screaming Eagle Sauvignon Blanc, was introduced in 2012. Although the latter initially sold for $250 a bottle in 2012, this wine quickly reached astronomical prices on the secondary market as well – sometimes up to ten times the release price.
In 2006, Screaming Eagle was famously sold to US billionaire Stanley Kroenke and winery investor Charles Banks for an undisclosed sum, rumored to be upwards of $30 million. Kroenke now owns Screaming Eagle outright (Banks was convicted of defrauding former NBA star Tim Duncan in a federal court in 2017).
Screaming Eagle Winery and Vineyards is a California wine estate producing limited amounts of varietal wine; due to the small quantities produced and high prices commanded, their wines are considered cult wines. The winery is located in Oakville, California, north of the town of Napa in the Napa Valley
History
Jean Phillips, a former real estate agent, bought the 57 acre Oakville vineyard in 1986 which was planted to a mix of varieties, most of which Phillips sold to various Napa wineries[except the 1-acre (4,000 m2), approximately 80 vines of Cabernet Sauvignon. For this one acre of Cabernet, Philips sought the opinions of Robert Mondavi Winery employees on the commercial potential of her wine before hiring Richard Peterson as a consultant, and subsequently met Peterson's daughter, Heidi Peterson Barrett, who became Screaming Eagle's first winemaker. The entire vineyard was replanted in 1995 to three varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The 1992 vintage, released in 1995, through a combination of very low production numbers and highly positive reviews (wine critic Robert Parker awarded the wine 99 points) resulted in Screaming Eagle becoming one of the most celebrated and expensive wines in the Napa Valley. Today the estate's flagship wine retails at an average price of $2,983 per bottle.
On March 17, 2006 the estate was sold to billionaire Stan Kroenke and Charles Banks.[6] Phillips disclosed the sale in a letter to Wine Spectator, saying she received an offer she couldn't refuse. In a letter to clients, Phillips stated, "they will renovate old structures or build new ones and replant the vineyard. The new owners have exciting plans to keep it small but raise the bar on quality." Three years later, in April 2009, Charles Banks left Screaming Eagle leaving Stan Kroenke as the sole proprietor.[7] Armand de Maigret is the Estate Manager.
Production
The vineyard area extends 48.21 acres (19.51 ha), planted with varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and a small amount of Sauvignon blanc. The vineyards are managed by David Abreu Vineyard Management and tended to by vineyard foreman Jorge Delgado and his team. In 2006 34 acres were replanted.[1] The annual production ranges from 400 to 750 cases (between 5,000 and 9,000 750ml bottles). The winemakers are Nick Gislason, Robert Black and Michel Rolland is a consultant.
94 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
"The essence of this generous, voluptuous vintage comes through loud and clear in the 2007 Second Flight. A jewel of a wine, the 2007 is endowed with gorgeous depth and tons of personality. Raspberry jam, freshly cut flowers and licorice all flow through to a deep, enveloping finish that is pure 2007. This is another great showing from Screaming Eagle. In 2007 the blend is 59% Cabernet Sauvignon and 41% Merlot. I have had a number of fabulous tastings at Screaming Eagle, but this was one of the most memorable. The biggest news at Screaming Eagle is the release of a second wine, a project that has been in the works for a number of years. Owner Stan Kroenke and his team wanted to make sure their new wine was up to the estate’s standards, and have only released the first vintages over the last few months. I tasted all four vintages of Screaming Eagle’s second label, Second Flight, next to Screaming Eagle itself, which allowed for a fascinating set of comparisons of both wines across a number of vintages. Like its big brother, Second Flight is a Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine, but here the Merlot plays a much more significant role. Regardless, what comes through most is the signature of these sites as seen through the lenses of the respective vintages.
