Winemaker Notes

The 2018 Onda Cabernet Sauvignon opens with aromas of dark chocolate, blackberries, and roasted plums. Intermingled with the fruit are notes of coffee, crme brulee, and hints of white pepper. The palate is rich with dense flavors of cassis and black cherry layered on robust and coating tannins. Vibrant acidity bring energy to the mid palate while complex flavors of white truffle and Seville orange mingle with dark berry fruit on the finish. The predominantly hillside provenance of the grapes lend a broad mouth coating tannin backbone. A small amount of Petit Verdot brings depth and nuances of blueberries and dried flower. While inviting now, this wine will grow in complexity as it continues to age.

Critical Acclaim

JS97
James Suckling
This is very focused and creamy with super fine tannins and lots of currant, chocolate and some spice character. Linear and long. Wonderful length. Better after 2024, but already beautiful.
JD95
Jeb Dunnuck
In the same ballpark as the 2016, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Onda is a rocking wine that’s mostly Cabernet Sauvignon from the Crystal Spring Vineyard that sits just below Lotus Vineyard. Revealing a dense purple hue as well as gorgeous blueberry and cassis fruit interwoven with tobacco, graphite, and chocolate, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, plenty of mid-palate depth, polished tannins, and a great finish. It shows the more elegant, pure, yet structured style of the vintage and has another two decades or more of prime time ahead.
RP95
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Onda is a blend of all four of the estate vineyards and includes a vineyard planted in 1967, just below the Lotus vineyard. The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Onda is composed of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Merlot. It was aged for 21 months in French oak barrels, 73% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it delivers vibrant scents of crushed black cherries, warm cassis and wild blueberries with hints of dark chocolate, candied violets and fragrant earth. Full-bodied, rich and plush in the mouth, the purely fruited palate is layered with loads of fragrant accents, finishing with a red berry lift. 1,052 cases were made.