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DAOU Estate Soul of a Lion from DAOU Family Estates on Vimeo.
Wine Enthusiast Review
Rated 96 Points
A creamy black-cherry aroma is balanced by toasted herbs and roasted coffee bean on the nose of this impressive bottling. There's a firm structure to the dense palate, and the flavors are expertly cohesive, combining herbs and savory meat with blueberry and blackberry.
Jeb Dunnuck Review
Rated 94-96+ Points
Checking in as 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot that's still resting in new barrels, the 2018 Soul Of A Lion has a dark, dense bouquet of creme de cassis, chocolate, violets, tobacco, and cedar pencil. This gives way to a beautiful, powerful, full-bodied wine that has building yet attractive tannins, a rounded texture, good freshness, and a great finish.
Wine Advocate Review
Rated 94-96 Points
The 2018 Soul Of A Lion is a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc and 8% Petit Verdot. It is still in barrel and is expected to age 22 months in 100% new French oak. It has a deep ruby-purple color and lovely scents of dried herbs and flowers, charcuterie, coffee beans, potpourri and broody spices with a core of cassis. The medium to full-bodied palate features fresh, bright, perfumed fruits with mineral nuance in a pixelated frame, and it finishes long and nuanced.
Wine Tasting Notes
The 2018 Soul of a Lion is the kind of awe-inspiring, age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignon that Georges and Daniel envisioned when they first began researching the terroir of DAOU Mountain. This wine displays all the hallmarks of its cooler growing season - richness, elegance and balance. A dark, purple-black hue foreshadows the experience to come. Intense aromas of lilac, violet and spice swirl amid a deep, complex bouquet. The palate bursts with prodigious flavors of blueberry, boysenberry, plum, vanilla bean and chocolate-covered cherry, all underlain by striking minerality. Silky, integrated tannins unwind into an impossibly long finish, revealing both the power and finesse of its DAOU Mountain provenance.
Cabernet Sauvignon 75%, Cabernet Franc 15%, Petit Verdot 10%
Alcohol 14.7%
The Vintage
The 2018 vintage may go in history as the longest season yet. A good amount of rain fell on DAOU Mountain which gave to a later bud break in April. The vines were energized by the much-needed moisture, setting one of our best crops yet. The weather remained steady from spring through June when we received a long heat wave that fortunately did not affect the quality of the grapes due to the fact that it occured before the start of veraison. A cooling trend ensued for the rest of the season right after the heatwave prolonging the hanging time and the harvest to October. The result was our latest harvest ever on the mountain, reaching all the way into the third week of October. The long hang time yielded deep color and concentration with dense wines. The tannins are silky and beautifully integrated. As a result the 2018 vintage was an exceptional vintage that gave way to powerful and balanced wines.
DAOU Vineyards & Winery
Family owned and operated, DAOU Vineyards & Winery is committed to producing collectible, world-class wines to rival the most respected appellations in the world. DAOU Mountain's combination of remarkable geology, microclimate, a 2,200-foot elevation, and steep slopes gives it a terroir described as “a jewel of ecological elements.” As stewards of this beautiful terroir, our goal is to make fine wines that honestly and accurately reflect the potential of the estate.
