Product Description
The availability of this product is limited and subject to change.Wine Advocate Review
Rated 95
The 2018 Isthmus is made up of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot from the Nuns Canyon and Hamel Family Ranch Vineyards. Notably, it was matured for 12 months in 26% new French oak barrels and transferred to concrete tanks for an additional 17 months' maturation. Deep ruby in color, the nose features blackcurrants and cherries with slowly emerging wafts of tobacco, charcuterie, graphite and dried herbs. The medium-bodied palate is powdery and seamless, its structural balance giving it a featherweight feel in the mouth. Fresh, smooth, long and layered, it's an easy-drinking yet complex meritage that will benefit from another 2-3 years in bottle to unwind. Drink Date: 2023-2037.
Wine Enthusiast Review
Rated 93
CELLAR SELECTION
From the Sonoma Valley-based producer's two estates, Hamel Family and Nun's Canyon, this blends a majority of Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Thick, herbal and tannic in its youth, it has complex tones of iron, crushed rock and elusively tart, tangy fruit at its core, strong and powerful in concentration and structure. Enjoy best from 2028 through 2038.
Wine Tasting Notes
A deep ruby tone in the glass, Hamel Family Wines Isthmus Sonoma Red displays notes of black fruits and cassis over an aromatic fabric of iron, clove, graphite, cedar and balsam. Dense and layered in texture, the palate shows ripe and juicy black fruit tannins woven into a monolith of structure. Through the richness, an integrated freshness and streak of minerality invigorates the wine towards a sustained and powerful finish. An Isthmus for the ages, the wine is just at the tip of accessibility, but will continue to develop and reward those who cellar over the next twenty years. For near term consumption, a decant will allow the wine to show its full depth.
64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot
Alcohol 14.5%