The Setting Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
(Oakville, Napa Valley, California) - [IWR 97] [OB 96] [WA 96] [JD 96] [JS 95] [DM 95]

About the Winery:
The most significant thing about wine, other than the wine itself, is The Setting in which you enjoy it. The Setting Wines is a collection of luxury wines created by three friends: Jeff Cova, Noah McMahon and famed winemaker, Jesse Katz. Driven by their philanthropic backgrounds, Jeff and Noah partnered with Jesse to establish The Setting Wines in 2014, a brand that seeks to encourage the appreciation of the simple moments in life, embrace the transformative power of shared experiences and give back in meaningful ways.

About the Wine:
Our Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon is an integral part of The Setting Wines portfolio. Comprised of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Skellenger Vineyard, this special property within the Oakville appellation produces fruit with wonderful volume, rich concentration and powerful elegance. This Cabernet Sauvignon has the quintessential Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon nose with inviting notes of ripe blackberries, black cherries and baking spice. On the palate, this wine offers rich layers of boysenberry and shaved dark chocolate notes that are beautifully balanced by its supple tannin structure. Built to age, this wine can be cellared for 15-20 years in your cellar but is still approachable enough for early enjoyment after an hour in your decanter.

Technical Notes

Appellation: Oakville, Napa Valley
Varietal Composition: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Release Date: October 2023
Production: 304 cases
Oak Program: 100% new French oak | 22 months

Ratings & Reviews

97 Points - International Wine Report

96 Points - Owen Bargreen:
"This comes from a vineyard between Rudd and Screaming Eagle. Aged for 22 months in 100% new French oak this offers creme de cassis, anise, tar and loamy soils on the palate, with lifted tannins and a refined mouthfeel. Chocolate and graphite notes complete this beautiful wine is refined and rich that is showing beautifully right now. Drinking Window: 2024-2044." (Jul 2024)

96 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
"The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville was matured for 22 months in 100% new French oak. Winemaker Jesse Katz notes that while many areas in 2021 expressed the relatively cool, even growing season, naturally warmer sites like those in Oakville actually showed a fair amount of warmth. ‘As far as growing degree days,’ he explains of these warmer sites, ‘2021 was similar to 2020. The rest of the sites were much more similar to 2018 and 2019. But the warmer sites in 2021 will show that warmer season. I haven't seen an expression like that before.’ The nose offers detailed aromas of black cherry and blueberry pie, licorice, musk and sandalwood with undertones of lilac and sagebrush. The full-bodied palate is bursting with ripe, concentrated fruit, although it doesn't feel overripe or weighty. Its vibrant acidity balances that opulence, and finely grained tannins add a plush feel. You could drink this now for its alluring fruit or allow it to mature in bottle over the next 10-15+ years. 300 cases were made. Drinking Window: 2025-2040." -Erin Brooks (Dec 2023)

96 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
"Inky black-colored and aged in 100% new French oak, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville is quite an expressive wine from The Setting, with aromas of sweet tobacco, plush plum, cigar box, and leather, all hallmarks of Oakville. Ripe and plush, it offers a lovely, ripe, sweet feel with a plush, rounded texture and a long finish. It's very well done, with a lot of youthful charm, but it will benefit if given time to shed its fat. Drink 2026-2046. (Drink between 2026-2046)" -Audrey Frick (Jun 2024)

95 Points - James Suckling:
"Aromas of red currants, flowers, cedar, and dark chocolate follow through to a medium body, with fine toned tannins that run the length of the wine. Pretty balanced. Open and delicious. Drink or hold." (Nov 2023)

95 Points - Decanter:
"The 2021 The Setting Oakville Cabernet comes from a site sandwiched midway between Rudd and Screaming Eagle and is farmed by Oscar Renteria. It is a decadent red with a savoury aromatic profile of spiced plums, tobacco, grilled herbs, ironstone minerals, and spiced cedarwood. It is medium to full-bodied with saline-laced blackberry and blackcurrant fruits and spicy wild herbs on the extended finish marked by more mineral tension and a firm backbone of lacy acidity, which layers in freshness and kind of coiled-up energy. Drinking Window: 2024-2042." -Jonathan Cristaldi (Mar 2024)