2016 screaming eagle, the flight, oakville
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Why We're Buying
Screaming Eagle The Flight may be the estate’s second wine, but what a second wine it is. The Bordeaux-style red blend features expressive dark fruit mixed with violets, spice cakes, and a touch of menthol flavor. Wine critic James Suckling gave it back-to-back 99-point ratings in 2016 and 2017, saying, "best Flight I have ever had with so much merlot character coming through… extremely refined and fresh.” As for investors, they routinely pay hundreds of dollars for a single bottle of this red wine.
Critics Scores
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
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.
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.
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.