The 2018 Chester-Kidder Red Wine is based on 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Syrah, and the rest Petit Verdot that spent 30 months in 85% new French oak. It's another brilliant wine from this team and has vibrant plum and darker, almost blue fruits as well as spicy oak, chocolate, graphite, and scorched earth aromas and flavors. Balanced and medium to full-bodied, with a terrific sense of freshness as well as building tannins, it's going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and have two decades of longevity.
94+ points, Jeb Dunnuck (Jul 2022)
The 2018 Red Wine Chester-Kidder is a stunning blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Syrah and 8% Petit Verdot. The palate is exceedingly refined and elegant with firm tannins holding in place a core of cassis, anise, dark chocolate shavings and tar tones. It finishes very long with black fruits, creosote and minerals. This beautiful wine has yet to fully hit its stride, but you can see the potential here.
94 points, Owen Bargreen, Vinous (Mar 2022)
Aromas of blackcurrants, smoke and toasted herbs. Full-bodied with a lot of earthy, leathery character. Slightly chewy tannins. I like the brooding complexity and intensity here. Very concentrated. 64% cabernet sauvignon, 28% syrah and 8% petit verdot. Drink or hold.
94 points, James Suckling (Apr 2022)
This wine is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Syrah and 8% Petit Verdot coming from Summit View, Candy Mountain and Dionysus Vineyards. Appealing aromas of freshly brewed coffee, dark cherry and barrel spice lead to full bodied flavors, where fruit and barrel intertwine. A long finish caps it off. There's a lot of fruit and loads of tannic stuffing behind it all. It's rewarding now, but more lies within. Best after 2029.
92 points, Sean P. Sullivan, Wine Enthusiast (May 2022)