- CRITICAL REVIEWS
- WINEMAKER NOTES
JD
96
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 The Flight is another beauty, and it's slightly more elegant and balanced, as well as pure, than the 2015. A blend of 66% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc, this vibrant purple-colored effort offers a huge perfume of blue fruits, violets, and incense that develops with time in the glass. It's medium to full-bodied, seamless, and incredibly elegant, yet has depth, intensity, and length. Reviwed by Jeb Dunnck, Issue date: January 2019, Drinking window: 2019 - 2039.
RP
97
Robert Parker Wine Advocate
(Rating 97+) Composed roughly of two-thirds Merlot with 5% Cabernet Franc and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, the medium to deep colored 2016 The Flight opens with bold, expressive notions of wild blueberries, warm plums and boysenberries with touches of black raspberries, spice cake, violets, dark chocolate and potpourri with a hint of menthol. Full-bodied, rich, spicy and jam-packed with energy, it has beautifully plush tannins texturing the multilayered blue and black fruits, delivering a very long, perfumed finish. Reviewed by Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Issue date: May 2019, Drinking window: 2022 - 2050.
V
98
Vinous
The 2016 The Flight is gorgeous. Dark, brooding and closed in on itself, the 2016 is going to need a number of years to be at its very best, but it is incredibly beguiling today. Plum, black cherry, lavender, blood orange menthol, and a host of more mineral-driven notes punctuate this super-expressive wine. This is a decidedly tannic and powerful edition of The Flight. I can't wait to see how it ages. Bottled just six weeks before this tasting, the 2016 appears to have a very bright future. Time in the glass brings out some of the softer edges that will almost surely emerge with cellaring.
The Flight is built on a core of older Merlot vines from the southeast corner of the estate. It is an absolutely riveting wine from Screaming Eagle. Reviewed by Antonio Galloni, Issue date: October 2018, Drinking window: 2024 - 2036.
2016 Screaming Eagle 'The Flight - Second Flight', Napa Valley, USA
Screaming Eagle is California's original cult wine and still lays claim to the state's – if not the country's – most highly prized label. Produced in tiny quantities from a small vineyard in Napa's Oakville appellation, the Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine is America's most expensive regularly produced wine.