Colgin Cellars IX Estate Red 2019

The 2019 growing season paralleled the moderate season of 2018, with several, key elements distinguishing it both at the beginning and the end. An abundance of rainfall came in the winter of 2019 and continued into early May. Vines thrived under such verdant growing conditions. Enhancing the airflow of the vine by spacing out the shoots and adjusting leaves in the late spring was an important yet laborious element for success in 2019. Nature yielded vines with an abundant crop, a result of the extra soil moisture and nutrients. We adjusted crop size using strict criteria for cluster thinning to bring the vines into balance.

Critical Acclaim

100 Jeb Dunnuck

One of the more backward, mineral-laced, age-worthy wines in the vintage, the 2019 Cabernet IX Estate comes from the estate property on Pritchard Hill, which is unquestionably one of the greatest terroirs in the Valley. Incredibly pure crème de cassis, smoked tobacco, spicy oak, graphite, chocolate, and crushed stone are just some of the nuances here. Hitting the palate with full-bodied richness, it has a stacked mid-palate, building tannins, utterly flawless balance, and the class to benefit from 5-7 years of bottle age and cruise for 50 years or so. Hopefully I’ll still be around to be test this prediction!

100 James Suckling

 Ripe cherries, plums and flowers on the nose. Orange peel, too, together with hints of thyme, bay leaf and sage. Medium-to full-bodied, incredibly deep and fresh, with fine tannins that carry you deep down into the finish. It tells you its great, but makes you spend time in order to understand it. Reminds me of the 1990 Latour.

100 Wine Advocate

2019 was a late-ripening vintage at Colgin’s IX Estate on Pritchard Hill. Much was picked during the third week of October, allowing winemaker Allison Tauzier to perform a little more co-fermentation. The 2019 IX Estate is opaque purple-black in color, needing a little coaxing to unlock notions of blackberry preserves, baked plums and crème de cassis, plus hints of pencil lead, star anise, wild sage and Indian spices, leading to a fragrant waft of lavender. Built like a brick house, the opulent, full-bodied palate is perfectly framed by super firm, exquisitely ripe tannins and a fantastic acid line to give lift throughout the long earthy finish. So finely knit together, this multi-layered, seamless beauty is just breathtaking.

98 Vinous

The 2019 IX Estate is supremely elegant and polished. All the strong mineral and savory accents typical of this site are present, but they are nearly buried by the sheer intensity of the fruit. Bright and chiseled, the 2019 is focused and full of character right out of the gate. Dried herb, tobacco, chocolate and mineral accents lend nuance throughout. My impression is that the 2019 is still recovering from its recent bottling. It is already stellar, but it will be even more stellar in time.

97 Wine Spectator

This offers a pretty large-scaled core of cassis, blackberry and mulberry fruit flavors sitting atop a band of graphite, while singed mesquite and apple wood and sweet tobacco notes fill in along the edges. Dense, but juicy and well-defined through the finish. To be released November 2022. Best from 2024 through 2040.