4/30/2021 - csimm wrote: 100 points

3 days in Napa: Arkenstone, Memento Mori, Maxem, The French Laundry, Christopher Tynan, Kinsman, Harlan, Vice Versa, Accendo, Fairchild, Macdonald, and a truckload of others (Napa): A perfect wine in the making, the 2018 Macdonald is undoubtedly going to be one of the top wines of the vintage. For those familiar with the Macdonald lineage, the 2018 will be no surprise as a qualitative conqueror and stunning phenom for the region and the vintage. Blackberry seed, soil, charcoal, graphite, and striking minerality all make for a complex and loaded wine that is just waiting for the next decade to come around and blossom into its fullest form.

This bottle was double decanted for nearly half a day. So, it’s no secret that the Macdonald pedigree of these wines requires a good 7-10+ years before optimum drinking will be had. That said, this thing was off the charts with reverberating fruit flavors and massive tension that the controlled power was utterly vibrating on the palate. Over the next few hours of following this wine with dinner, it became even more expressive. As one could imagine, it was one of those experiences where you just wanna stick your face in your glass and leave it there for an hour. I didn’t want to play nice around others with this bottle, as the three-year-old in me was caught up in the, “Mine, mine, mine” syndrome. It was honestly a little difficult to pay attention to the other amazing wines on the table once the Macdonald came into play.

Frankly, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to process these wines every vintage with this producer. The Macdonalds are always on point. ALWAYS. They are always quality. They are always one of the most exceptional wines to come out of Napa year in and year out. One can try to explain it away all day long and go into all the details as to how and why this seems to occur, but the bottom line is that these are special wines and they continue to be special with the meticulous thought and passion that goes into every step of these wines’ constructions. They are special. Very special. Some wines make you smile. Some wine write history. This phenom does both. Sound the trumpets and release the hounds folks! If you’re able to hunt these down when they come out you’ll be a lucky chap indeed. This is liquid awesomeness and simply captivating. 100 points.

During this trip, I was continually impressed with all of the wines we were fortunate enough to drink. I will say also that there were three wines in particular for me that totally crushed my cranium with their unbelievable representations of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2012 Harlan, 2012 Tynan MG, and 2018 Macdonald were next-level juice that dominated the landscape even among their otherwise remarkable peers.