Oakville, United States · USA
2019 Screaming Eagle The Flight
Screaming Eagle's The Flight 2019 — Oakville Bordeaux-style red with violet, lavender, and spearmint over fine-grained tannins, sealed tight until 2028 and built for the mid-2030s.
- Varietal
- Bordeaux Blend
- Region
- Oakville, United States
- Vintage
- 2019
Drinking Window
In 2026: Too YoungHolding. Drinking window opens in 2028.
Right now: In 2026, the Screaming Eagle The Flight 2019 has not yet opened its drinking window, which begins in 2028. The wine is young, structured, and firmly sealed by the fine-grained but firm tannin architecture that defined this vintage from the iconic Oakville estate. The floral and savory aromatics — violet, lavender, black olive, spearmint, green tea — are present under prolonged decanting but the wine's structural framework is still dominant. Peak expression is projected from 2032 through 2045. In 2026, this is a collector's hold with six years of patience required before the drinking window opens and more than a decade ahead before peak form. Do not sacrifice bottles early.
Tasting Note
Floral and savory in a signature Oakville register, the nose delivers violet, lavender, and black olive with distinctive spearmint and green tea nuances that set The Flight apart from more conventional Napa Cabernet profiles. These aromatics sit over a medium-to-full-bodied frame that has the structural precision one expects from Screaming Eagle's winemaking philosophy applied to a Bordeaux-style blend. Fine-grained tannins are the architectural center of the wine — present, refined, and carrying the potential for very long development. The finish is long and points unmistakably to a wine built for an extended cellaring horizon, with the promise of complexity still accumulating in bottle.
About Screaming Eagle
Screaming Eagle is among the most sought-after addresses in American wine, farming a 57-acre estate in the prime Oakville benchland of Napa Valley. The Flight was introduced as the estate's Bordeaux-style blend — a complement to the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon — with a composition that incorporates Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot alongside Cabernet Sauvignon in proportions that vary by vintage to produce a wine of aromatic lift and fine-grained structural elegance. Chief winemaker Nick Gislason continues the approach established by Andy Erickson: native yeasts, whole-cluster fermentation for a portion of the blend, minimal new oak relative to the wine's ambition, and extended elevage to allow gradual integration before release.
Food Pairings
Duck breast with lavender and wild berry reduction
The wine's violet, lavender, and spearmint aromatic register finds a direct bridge in lavender-inflected duck preparations — the bird's fine-grained fat addresses the tannin structure while the wild berry reduction echoes the wine's dark fruit core.
Grilled lamb chops with green olive tapenade and roasted garlic
The green olive and spearmint notes in the wine find their culinary counterpart in a tapenade preparation, while the lamb provides the protein richness and moderate fat that the fine-grained tannin structure of this Oakville blend is built to encounter.
Aged Manchego with dark chocolate and Marcona almonds
The firm, lanolin-rich character of mature Manchego and the bittersweet chocolate provide the fat and intensity required to stand alongside this wine's considerable structural ambition, while Marcona almonds add textural depth that echoes the wine's fine-grained tannin architecture.
Service & Cellaring
- Serving Temp
- 63-66F (17-19C)
- Decanting
- In 2026, with the window not yet open, plan at least 2 to 3 hours in a wide decanter if opening for study. The fine-grained tannins and structural framework are still dominant and require extended air exposure to begin softening. From 2028 when the window opens, 90 minutes to 2 hours will be appropriate; at peak from 2032 onward, 60 minutes is sufficient.
- Cellar Storage
- 55F (13C), 60-70% humidity, bottle on its side.
Frequently Asked
When should I open the 2019 Screaming Eagle The Flight?
The drinking window opens in 2028, with peak expression projected from 2032 through 2045. In 2026, the wine is firmly sealed by fine-grained but dominant tannins that have not yet integrated. If you open before 2028, plan at minimum 2 to 3 hours of decanting. The best approach for serious collectors is to hold through 2032, when the wine enters its prime decade-plus drinking window.
How does The Flight differ from Screaming Eagle's flagship Cabernet Sauvignon?
The Flight is the estate's Bordeaux-style blend, incorporating Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot alongside Cabernet Sauvignon in proportions that vary by vintage. The blend philosophy gives The Flight a more aromatic, floral register — violet, lavender, spearmint — and a finer-grained tannin structure compared to the flagship's more concentrated, Cabernet Sauvignon-driven power. Both are built for long cellaring, but The Flight's blend composition gives it a more immediate aromatic lift at any stage of development.
How long should I decant The Flight?
Before 2028, plan 2 to 3 hours in a wide decanter. The fine-grained tannins need extended air exposure to begin opening, and the violet, lavender, and spearmint aromatics emerge gradually rather than all at once. From 2028 onward, 90 minutes is appropriate; at peak maturity from 2032, 60 minutes in a wide decanter is ideal.
Is Screaming Eagle The Flight a good investment?
Screaming Eagle's allocation is among the most tightly held in American wine, with wait lists spanning years for both the flagship Cabernet and The Flight. The combination of the estate's iconic status, the 2019 vintage's strong critical reception, and the wine's 26-year drinking horizon to 2045 creates the fundamentals that serious collectors evaluate for cellar investment.
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