Hundred Acre
About Hundred Acre
The founder of Hundred Acre, Jayson Woodbridge, is something of an enigma to the world of fine wine. Despite his outspoken and sometimes contrarian nature, he almost never meets directly with any members of the wine media.
Woodbridge considers Hundred Acre to be something of a personal quest - printed on each label of his wine is the opening verse of Homer's Odyssey. This maverick winemaker altered careers fairly suddenly and drastically in the late 1990s, switching mergers and acquisitions for soil typography and harvest dates! Success as an Investment Banker has afforded Hundred Acre with an uncommon advantage over many wine producers - a healthy level of capital.
No expense is spared in crafting any of the cuvées offered by this magical estate. In fact, Woodbridge is known to take multiple decisions which fly in the face of both the prevailing wisdom and fiscal prudency in a single vintage.
His appetite for risk has been richly rewarded in the form of some 24 100pt scores across a mere 20 vintages. Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Wine Advocate) has described this producer as "thinking on another plane of existence", and it is hard to recall another estate anywhere in the world that has been this consistently excellent over the past decade or two.
"The wine quality continues to be among the most singular and profound in all of Napa Valley"
Robert Parker
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Jeb Dunnuck (100)
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Ark Vineyard comes from a steeper, diverse site, and it's a perfect wine in this reviewer's opinion. Deep ruby/plum-hued, with incredible aromatics of red and black plums, new leather, lead pencil, and smoked tobacco, it has remarkable complexity, full-bodied richness, a deep, layered mouthfeel, and velvety tannins. It's a wine that delivers everything: richness, depth, elegance, and complexity. As with all the 2019s from Woodbridge, it's drinking spectacularly well today yet has two decades of life ahead of it.$2,040.00 -
(3x75cl) 2013Wine Advocate (100)
Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Wraith leaps from the glass with gregarious black and red cherries, mulberries, black currant cordial, red roses and lavender scents with layers of crushed rocks and earthy sparks. Faint earth and exotic spice nuances unfurl slowly, growing in intensity and depth. The palate is full-bodied and solidly structured with firm, very finely grained, super ripe tannins and bold freshness. Finishing exquisitely perfumed, jaw-droppingly layered and with bags of sophistication and poise, this wine totally resets the benchmark for 100 points.$2,090.00 -
Wine Advocate (100)
Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Wraith opens with compelling crème de cassis, wild blueberries, anise, chocolate mint and black earth scents plus suggestions of candied violets, cinnamon stick, tar, cigar box and smoked meats. Full-bodied, rich, super firm and built like a brick house, the palate offers layer upon layer of very tightly wound, subtly nuanced flavors leading to a very long, very perfumed and minerally finish. If any Hundred Acre wine can live for 100 years, this is certainly a contender.$2,190.00 -
Wine Advocate (100)
The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Wraith has a medium garnet-purple color and a hauntingly beautiful nose of kirsch, red roses, fragrant soil and menthol over a core of blueberry compote, raspberry pie and preserved plums plus faint glimpses of crushed rocks, lavender, tapenade and smoked meats. The palate is full-bodied, tightly knit and super intense with a solid structure of perfectly ripe, fine-grained tannins and tons of freshness, finishing very long and minerally. This is one of those very rare wines that so beautifully straddles the pinnacles of hedonic and the cerebral experiences, forever compelling you to take just one more sip.$2,645.00 -
Wine Advocate (98+)
Deep garnet, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Wraith jumps with spicy scents of cumin seed, clove oil, cinnamon stick and fenugreek, leading to a core of prunes, blueberry pie and blackcurrant cordial, with touches of iron ore and red roses. The rich, full-bodied palate layers in red fruit nuances with a structure that is wonderfully elegant and ethereal, delivering silken tannins, seamless freshness and a long-lasting firework display for a finish.$1,610.00 -
Jeb Dunnuck (98+)
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Wraith is one of those wines that would be a perfect example of the expression “iron fist in a velvet glove.” Full-bodied, concentrated, and powerful, it has that classic 2018 frame that carries pure darker currant and cassis fruits as well as complex notes of leather, licorice, and spring flowers. This layered, multi-dimensional, perfectly balanced 2018 will reward 3-4 years of bottle age and cruise for 20-25 years.$1,740.00
