Screaming Eagle 2011 "Second Flight" Red Wine Blend, 750ml

"Deep garnet colored, the 2011 Second Flight (a blend of 54% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Cabernet Franc) offers up a gorgeous perfume of wilted roses and violets over a core of blackberry tart, raspberry preserves, and kirsch with subtle baking spices and garrigue notions. Medium to full-bodied with a solid frame of grainy tannins and just enough freshness, it has wonderfully perfumed layers and an exotic spice-laced finish. It has a surprising amount of weight and concentration for this cool, rainy vintage. Winemaker Nick Gislason informed me that the last pick was on November 1 this year -- which is extremely late! But this later harvest clearly paid off when you consider how ripe the tannins are on this beauty." -- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate.

Second Flight, now known as simply the Flight, Screaming Eagle’s sister wine and the brainchild of Stanley Kroenke, is characterized by its confident delicacy. A particularly aromatic wine, it is credited with scents of red fruit, fragrant spice, and crushed florals. With a base of Merlot rather than Cabernet Sauvignon, Second Flight delights the senses with its charming litheness and has been met with almost the same acclaim that Screaming Eagle first received.

PLEASE NOTE: This is an authentic 750ml bottle of the 2011 Screaming Eagle Second Flight Red Wine, verified using the bubble-coded security system. It was bottled at Screaming Eagle's estate in Oakville in December 2013. (Beginning with the 2010 vintage of Screaming Eagle, Second Flight, and The Flight wines, all bottles have a bubble-coded security system that enables the verification of authenticity. This label is placed between the foil and the bottle creating a security seal that cannot be detached without the seal and foil being visibly damaged). The wine has been stored properly by the donor.

FOR COLLECTORS who are looking for a perfectly pristine bottle: The foil has a small nick at the top (see photo).

Name of Winery: Screaming Eagle

Bottle Size: 750ml

Number of Bottles: One

Varietal: 54% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Cabernet Franc

Appellation: Napa Valley

Screaming Eagle: Screaming Eagle Winery and Vineyards is a California wine estate producing limited amounts of varietal wine; due to the small quantities produced and high prices commanded, their wines are considered cult wines. The winery is located in Oakville, California, north of the town of Napa in the Napa Valley.

Among cult California wines one winery stands alone: Screaming Eagle. Its origins lie in the discerning eye of a star local real estate agent, Jean Philips, who started acquiring choice vineyard plots in the mid-1980s. 

It was the Dean of Napa Valley, Robert Mondavi, who encouraged her to switch from real estate to winemaking, and by 1992 Screaming Eagle debuted its first vintage by the emerging winemaker Heidi Barrett, wife of Bo Barrett from Chateau Montelena.

With multiple perfect or near-perfect ratings from various influential reviewers, her diminutive property secured a reputation for producing legendary, almost mythical wine, the unicorn of which is widely regarded to be the 1992.

In a field that necessitates immense knowledge, patience and business savvy, it is rare for a winery to experience near-instant celebrity. Screaming Eagle arguably rose to fame with one vintage and one review: in 1995, wine critic Robert Parker awarded the 1992 vintage a near-perfect 99 points. The wine’s upward trajectory has remained constant ever since.

There is something magical about the Screaming Eagle property. That Phillips stumbled upon this site — young, near perfect, staggeringly beautiful — seemed an act of fate.

In the vineyard’s adolescence, Jean Phillips sold the property’s existing fruit to local wineries. She then swiftly replanted the land exclusively with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. Phillips started crafting wine on-site in an old stone barn.

Those who understand wine know that every vintage is an inspired collaborative effort. Phillips sought the advice of specialists from the Mondavi Winery and also reached out to consultant Richard Peterson, a pivotal choice for Phillips and the property. Peterson introduced her to his daughter, Heidi Peterson Barrett, a then-up-and-coming winemaker. As a pair, in that same old stone barn, Barrett and Phillips produced Screaming Eagle’s first commercial vintage in 1992. It was a life-changing, industry-shaking vintage.

After critic, Robert Parker awarded the 1992 that near-perfect 99 points, Screaming Eagle joined the elite group of ‘California Cult Wines’. Phillips and Barrett produced California’s most exclusive and sought-after wine for 14 years. Then, in 2006, at the height of Screaming Eagle’s success, Phillips sold Screaming Eagle to Stanley Kroenke and Charles Banks.

The estate produces only three wines: the uber-rare Sauvignon Blanc is the latest addition and is sold exclusively to long-time members on a hotly pursued allocation list; Second Flight was introduced in 2012; and declassified wine not deemed qualified for the Estate’s standard bearer. The composition of their reds consists of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.

Current winemaker Nick Gislason takes great pride in the ‘energy’ of his wines, which manifests itself in bold flavors, lively in their elegance. Crafted around the vineyard’s Cabernet Sauvignon, notes of liquid smoke, dark chocolate, and plum live harmoniously in the bottle.

More about Screaming Eagle.