SCREAMING EAGLE
Screaming Eagle has an unusual and
relatively short history for such an iconic wine.
When Jean Phillips, a former real estate
agent, bought her own Oakville property just below
the Dalla Valle vineyard in 1986, she had no idea
that her wine would become one of the world’s
finest and most revered. Her determination to make
the best wine possible bore a successful result as
her 1992 Screaming Eagle was proclaimed to be
outstanding, worldwide.
Phillips’ success didn’t come from quantity, but
from quality. When she bought the property, only
80 vines were planted but each one was personally
tended, ensuring remarkably healthy fruit. When
success came along, Phillips decided to build up a
team to cope with customers’ expectations.
Yet,
her desire to slowly increase production was
affected by certain limitations, such as the size
of her winery and the barrel-aging cave she had
just built – so production levels remained minimal
and even today only 500-700 cases are released per
year.
Since its creation, Phillip’s vineyard seemed
ideal for Cabernet: the soil (rocky), the weather
(hot enough to ripen the grape to its optimum,
with fresh afternoon breezes) and the drainage are
perfectly adapted to this grape variety. These
conditions result in concentrated wines that age
well for up to 20 years, with soft and polished
tannins. With notes of cassis liqueur, liquorice
and toast, the 1997 vintage has been described by
Robert Parker as a “perfect wine”, showing
extraordinary purity and a very long finish.
The estate was sold by Philips in 2006 and,
despite another change in ownership in 2009,
Screaming Eagle has remained California’s most
coveted wine brand.
Screaming Eagle wines produced:
Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon
Top Screaming Eagle wines produced:
2005, 2002, 2001, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1992