Red Wines

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Seemingly just entering maturity, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill boasts stunning fresh, vital notes of redcurrants and raspberries, accented by intricate details of dried sage and bay leaf. It’s amazingly silky and supple, a charming, softly tannic effort that somehow combines intense levels of concentration with almost indescribable harmony and finesse.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPA solid and powerful cabernet with age with chewy tannins and a dark berry and walnut character. Chewy texture and lightly austere. Very dry but enticing. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 95 JSThe 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill is rich and explosive, with tons of concentration, depth and structure. Dark blue and black fruit, mocha, smoke, menthol, licorice and spices all burst from the glass as this huge, tannic Cabernet Sauvignon shows off its pure class. Readers will have to be patient with the 2012, a wine that will blow the roof off the house with its unbridled power.Vinous Media | 94+ VM

The 2012 IX Proprietary Red Estate, which comes from their gorgeous hillside vineyards overlooking Lake Hennessey high on Pritchard Hill, is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 8% Petit Verdot. Absolutely spectacular aromatics of spring flowers, blueberry, blackberry and blackcurrant fruit intermixed with creosote, graphite and floral notes are followed by a wine of great depth, elegance, richness and purity. Simply loaded, but with pristine harmony and equilibrium, this is a sensational tour de force and a great tribute to this spectacular hillside site on Pritchard Hill. Drink it over the next 25-35 years.Robert Parker | 99 RPWinemaker Allison Tauziet commented that after 2011, the vines had lots of energy going into 2012, and the team had to do lots of canopy management and crop thinning. The 2012 IX Estate is show-stopping juice and offers an incredible array of cassis and currant-like fruits as well as truffle, iron, and spring flowers. A blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, this full-bodied, deep, layered, utterly compelling Napa red is just now at the early stages of its prime drink window and has another 2-3 decades of life. As with the 2013 IX Estate, it reminds me of a 2009 First Growth from Bordeaux.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDFabulous intensity and energy to this young red with wet earth, violets, blackcurrants, black olives, sweet tobacco, blackberries. It’s so complex. Full-bodied and very deep with incredible depth and richness. Give it four and five years to come together.James Suckling | 98 JSDeep garnet-purple colored, the 2022 IX Estate features bold, expressive notes of crème de cassis, blueberry pie, and plum preserves, giving way to hints of menthol, mossy tree bark, black olives, and iron ore. The full-bodied palate is characteristically rich and dense with great depth and wonderfully fine-grained tannins, matched by beautifully knit freshness, finishing long and minerally.The Wine Independent | 98+ TWIThe 2012 IX Estate is the biggest and most powerful of these wines. Firm tannins provide the backdrop for a huge core of fruit as this creamy, voluptuous Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend shows off its considerable personality. Game, smoke and tobacco add nuance on the finish. The IX Estate brings together some of the sensuality of Tychson Hill along with a level of vibrancy that recalls the Cariad. If that sounds appealing, well, it is.Vinous Media | 96 VMFeatures an expressive mix of flavors built around dried currant, dusty, cedary oak, a gravel pit of newly crushed rock and melted black licorice. Shows impressive finesse and refinement. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2028. 1,400 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSLike the Tychson Hill from this vintage, the IX Estate has reticent aromas of red as well as black fruits, as well as hints of tobacco and mint. Broad and fleshy, it still shows admirable freshness and vigour. Although not excessively concentrated, it doesn’t lack grip, yet it does tail off slightly on the finish.Decanter | 93 DEC