I had the great pleasure and privilege on a recent visit to Napa to meet and taste with both Alex and Graeme Macdonald. They graciously brought a bottle of the yet-to-be-released 2015 MACDONALD Cabernet Sauvignon.
The wine was served double decanted (it had been open for 10 hours before the first pour) at room temperature. It poured a deep purple and immediately flooded the table with its aromatics. This wine had a beautiful explosive nose that demonstrated pure Cabernet fruit character: cassis, blackberry, an extremely attractive green pepper note, stony mineral, anise, and pipe tobacco. Holy hell, what a monster. Noticeably absent were the usual indicators of intrusive oak —no vanilla, no sweetness, no “baking spices”—just purity. It took me a couple of minutes of swirling and sniffing to even muster a sip, as the aromatics were so heady and intoxicating, I didn’t want to take my nose out of the glass.
My initial sip nearly knocked me over. Balance. Balance. Balance. Impeccable balance. Striking balance. Velvety mouthfeel with bright acidity, balanced alcohol, a very fine-grained and well-distributed tannic grip across the palate. The aromatics carried through to the palate, with pure black fruit and gravelly/stony minerality. Notes of sage and thyme were present as well. The mid-palate was full and weighty, but still very fresh. The finish was epically long—60 seconds plus. Just enough presence from oak to round things out without obscuring anything in the least bit. This is a wine that is, in every sense, perfect. It will benefit from a few years to settle in, as a 10+ hour decant is rarely practical. I can’t wait to taste this again and again. It has decades of life left ahead of it. Bravo to Alex and Graeme. What an effort.
Excellent question. Both undoubtedly 100-pointers in my mind–whereas the '16 Elysian is the proverbial “iron fist in a velvet glove,” the '15 MACDONALD is James Bond in a perfectly tailored tuxedo. Make sense? Elysian is more fruit-forward and masculine, and MACDONALD bears more herbaceousness and minerality–more elegance. Make sense?
Had this Tuesday night after being open for 12 hours. Could have gone another 12 hours. Would have to disagree with OP as I didn’t find it a monster. It’s certainly balanced, as is a trademark of these wines, it’s just is tightly wound at this point. That’s nothing new. They need time. But, as with all young MacDonald, you can see how great the wine will given some cellaring. Buy and bury if you can. You’ll be well rewarded.