With more minerality as well as a bloody, iron character, the perfect 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Lotus Vineyard is 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petit Verdot that saw 27 months in new French oak barrels. Incredible notes of blackcurrants, graphite, tobacco, Asian spices, and dried herbs all emerge from this full-bodied, ultra-pure, layered, and just incredible wine that tops out my scale. Coming from a vineyard at the base of Howell Mountain and aged in 90% new French oak, it has the class to offer pleasure even today yet is going to benefit from 7-8 years of bottle age and keep for 3-4 decades. It’s one of the greatest young Cabernets I’ve ever tasted.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThe 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Lotus Vineyard is the most powerful and backward of the three single-vineyard Cabernets at Dana. Brisk and finely cut, the 2016 captures a stunning interplay of freshness, structure and vibrancy. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2016 is going to need a number of years to be at its very best. Even in the early going, though, it is pretty memorable. Gravel, sage, menthol, crushed flowers and white pepper add aromatic nuance to a brooding, tannic Cabernet Sauvignon built for the cellar.Vinous Media | 100 VMThe 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Lotus Vineyard is made up of 97% Cabernet Sauvignon (clones 4 and 15) and 3% Petit Verdot. It fermented 46% in oak tanks, 38% in concrete and 16% in barrels. It was on the skins for 28 to 43 days and aged in French oak barrels for 27 months. Deep garnet-purple in color, it is a little shy to begin, before opening up with provocative lilacs, cinnamon stick, cloves and underbrush over a core of blackcurrant cordial, preserved plums and Black Forest cake plus a waft of cast-iron pan. Full-bodied, the palate is an exercise in grace, with wonderfully harmonious perfumed black fruit framed by very fine-grained tannins and bags of freshness, finishing very long.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPThis is a very solid red showing an impressive, vertical line of tannins and acidity with blackberry and blueberry character. Full body, a cylinder of fruit and chewy yet polished tannins. Extremely persistent. Needs three or four years to come together. Try after 2022.James Suckling | 98 JS
