The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Onda comes from a mix of the Helms, Crystal Spring, Hershey, and Lotus vineyards and is based on 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc. It's a still wine that’s showing even better now from bottle, offering a sweet nose of crème de cassis, violets, darker chocolate, and a Graves-like graphite character. It's full-bodied, has a deep, rich, layered mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. This is as good as, if not better than, the 2016, 2018, and 2019, and is a brilliant bottle of wine that readers will love. It's going to cruise for two decades in cold cellars.
97 points, Jeb Dunnuck (Jan 2025)
ONDA is a blend drawn from organically farmed estate vineyards, composed of 42% Hershey, 34% Crystal Springs, 14% Lotus, and 10% Helms Vineyard fruit. Fermentation takes place in oak tanks, barrels, and cement tanks, and the wine is aged for 22 months in 67% new oak. The wine shows remarkable precision and purity of fruit, combining ironstone minerality with dark fruit flavour and gorgeous loamy earth notes, building into full-bodied richness that carries through a long, energising finish. Ultra-fine, powdery tannins lend a cocoa nib nuance, while freshness remains a defining feature, accented by bay laurel and sagebrush notes, and a lengthy mineral-driven finish.
96 points, Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter (Feb 2026)
Yields were down in 2021, but the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Onda is super. Dried herbs combine easily with cassis and cherries on the nose, bringing a cool, restrained sense to the aromas, while the full-bodied palate is somewhere between silky and velvety in texture, finishing long and focused. Drawn mainly from the estate vineyard on Crystal Springs Road, there are 866 cases of this blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc.
95 points, Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate (Oct 2024)
Juicy and pretty with plenty of sweet berries and medium chewy tannins. Full-bodied, showing great depth of fruit with juiciness and richness. More tannins now. Best after 2027.
95 points, James Suckling (Nov 2023)
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