Review: 2020 Daou Soul of a Lion Cabernet Sauvignon Adelaida District
Paso Robles-based Daou has been moving heavily into the mainstream — it’s a mainstay on many a by-the-glass wine list these days — but its Soul of a Lion bottling remains a luxe option that you’ll find only on thick, reserve wine lists.
We loved the 2017 bottling of the wine, and now the 2020, its 10th anniversary, is here. Let’s give it a whirl.
Composed of 78% cabernet sauvignon, 12% cabernet franc, and 10% petit verdot, here we see the Lion taking a considerably more fruit-forward approach that pushes tannins in to the background. Big with sweet fig, strawberry, and raspberry notes, it attacks like a plate of jam-laced cookies at afternoon tea, creamy and bright, albeit dusted with some notes of tobacco and cigar box. A touch beefy at times, the finish tries to reach for gravity but can’t ever shake its fruit bomb of an attack, taking a finishing lap that’s almost like strawberry candy.
