94pts Vinous

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Black Label is a gorgeous, large-scale wine. Blackberry jam, chocolate, cloves, new leather, menthol and espresso wrap around the palate. Readers will find an opulent, lush Cabernet Sauvignon that marries fruit intensity with the cooler, more savory notes that are typical of the appellation.

Tasting Notes

Our 2021 Covert black label Cabernet is a full-bodied, densely fruited celebration of the vintage. The nose offers classic aromas of blackberry, cassis, and cedar, with a gentle counterpoint of mocha and dried plum. Juicy sun-warmed blackberries, black raspberries, and blueberries burst in the mouth, delivering sinuous sucrosity with complex notes of dried bay leaf, espresso and milk chocolate. Fine-grained tannins ably support the wine’s density, and carry mineral notes through the midpalate with fragrant clove and golden caramel. The lengthy, unhurried finish brings notes of succulent blackberry pastry, dried thyme, and a final burst of fresh-picked boysenberries.

Winery Notes

Our Black Label Cabernet has Coombsville’s dark, structured aromatics as its cornerstone, blended into the rich and refined style that is Covert’s hallmark. Our team harvests by hand in the cool early mornings and sends the grapes through two rounds of rigorous sorting—first as whole clusters, then again as de-stemmed individual berries. After cold maceration, the fruit is fermented by naturally occurring wild yeasts for three to four weeks. Once this initial fermentation is complete, we gently crush the grapes with a vertical press directly into barrels for a secondary malolactic fermentation. The wine then spends 18-26 months in barrel, as needed for each vintage. We rack at most twice per year, and bottle without fining or filtration. By minimizing human intervention with the wine, we aim to amplify the voice of the terroir.