Screaming Eagle

The history

Jean Phillips, a real estate agent, purchased around 23 hectares of land with 18 hectares of vines in Oakville in 1986. Various grape varieties had been planted on the site, and for several years she simply sold the harvest to other wineries in Napa, keeping for herself approximately 0,4 hectarees of Cabernet Sauvignon,  around 80 vines.

Wanting to find out just how good her home-made wine was, she took a bottle to the staff at the Robert Mondavi Winery. They recognised its commercial potential and supported her in her future endeavours, after which she hired consultant Richard Peterson, and subsequently his daughter Heidi Peterson Barrett, who became Screaming Eagle’s first winemaker for the 1992 vintage. This wine only went on sale in 1995, when Robert Parker awarded it 99 points. Barrett continued to produce this wine for over ten years, and its reputation is largely associated with her.
Within just a few years, ‘Screaming Eagle’ had become one of the first names mentioned when discussing cult Californian wines: tiny production volumes, very high prices and virtual unavailability through standard channels. In 1995, Phillips replanted the entire vineyard with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

In March 2006, she sold the estate to Charles Banks and Stan Kroenke. Banks stepped down in April 2009, leaving Kroenke as the sole owner, and he has owned it ever since. Phillips told that she had received an offer she couldn’t refuse.

The Vineyard

Screaming Eagle is located in Oakville, a sub-appellation situated in the heart of the Napa Valley region, and is one of the areas most closely associated with authentic Cabernet Sauvignon. Although the wine label lists it as Napa Valley, maps specify Oakville as its exact location.

The winery's small scale is a fact that no one there tries to hide. Screaming Eagle describes its production volume as extremely limited, so much so that there is absolutely no surplus wine, meaning they cannot even hold tastings.

The practical implications of this are clear. There is no visitor center or tours; the P.O. box address at Oakville is the only point of contact, and one's place on the waiting list moves up only when someone stops purchasing.

The grapes

Screaming Eagle works for the red wines with the classic Bordeaux blend, the grand vin is led by Cabernet Sauvignon. The grape varieties featured in all of this winery's bottled products are as follows:

• Cabernet Sauvignon, the primary variety
• Merlot
• Cabernet Franc
• Petit Verdot
• Sauvignon Blanc

The exact proportions vary from year to year, and the winery does not disclose them as a fixed recipe. The alcohol content for red wines is typically around 14%, though it is sometimes slightly higher, indicating that these wines are well-ripened Napa reds rather than light-bodied ones.

Who advises in the cellar

Heidi Peterson Barrett made the first vintage in 1992 and stayed for well over a decade, and it is her wines that built the reputation. Andy Erickson took over after the 2006 sale, and since around 2011 the winemaker has been Nick Gislason, who arrived from Harlan Estate in his twenties and has now seen more than fifteen harvests here. Robert Black works alongside him as associate winemaker. The vineyards are farmed by David Abreu's team, whose vineyard management company also looks after several of Napa's other benchmark sites.

Michel Rolland consults. His firm is based in Pomerol and advises properties across a long list of countries, with a small American portfolio that includes Harlan and Staglin alongside the Oakville estate. Rolland made his name with ripe, plush, Merlot-inflected reds and has taken plenty of criticism for it over the years, without ever appearing troubled by the charge.

What comes out of it is a dense, dry Napa Cabernet with real depth of fruit, built to age for decades. The winery publishes no technical sheets, and given how little wine there is, that is unlikely to change.

The wines

The most important wine is Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. This wine is the one that started it all in 1992, and it's so popular that there's a waiting list for it.

Second Flight is another red wine for which this winery is famous; it is a Bordeaux-style blend. It debuted with the 2006 vintage and has been called The Flight since 2015. It's the estate's Merlot-dominant blend. 

Since 2012 Screaming Eagle also produces a white wine made from sauvignon blanc.

The wines are produced in extremely limited quantities. Neither is a wine you'll come across by chance, and, in fact, that is precisely what makes them so special.

The best vintages of screaming eagle

That is of course a question of preference, however the following vintages can be regarded as outstanding 1997, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2021.