Wines with Age

wines

Like so many 2004s, the 2004 Dominus is a full-bodied wine showing brilliantly at age ten, with loads of complex cedar, kirsch, Christmas fruitcake, black currants and spice box. It has a creamy, opulent texture, but remains light on its feet. This sexy wine is showing exceptionally well and is best drunk over the next 10-15 years. Not one of the longest-lived wines from Dominus, but it is certainly at a wonderful point in its evolution right now.Robert Parker | 97 RP(14.1% alcohol): Bright, dark red with ruby highlights. Superripe but highly complex nose exudes scents of blueberry, violet, minerals, licorice, game and cocoa powder. Plush and seamless on the palate, conveying a wonderfully silky mouth feel to the dark fruit, coffee and licorice flavors; less animal in character than some other very ripe vintages of Dominus. This wonderfully suave, sweet, youthful wine finishes with slowly mounting, very fine-grained tannins and considerable class.Vinous Media | 94 VMThis is fleshed-out, engagingly seductive, creamy-textured and rich in flavor, with purity, focus and depth, made special by supple, graceful nuances. Long, intricate and delicate on the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.—2004 California Cabernet blind retrospective (August 2014). Drink now through 2022. 5,600 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

This blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot (note that rarely is any Merlot utilized at the historic Napanook Estate in Yountville). The alcohol, by California standards, is a relatively modest 14.1%. Blending the best of French savoir faire with the brilliant fruit purity and ripeness of Napa Valley, Moueix has turned in another tour de force that seems far superior today than it did when it was first released. This is one of the vintage’s greatest wines. Dense purple and youthful, with a glorious nose of earth, blackcurrants, sweet black cherries and incense, the oak is pushed way in the background, as it is in all of the Moueix wines, and the result is a wine of terroir, of great originality and authenticity. This full-bodied classic from Dominus can be drunk now, but really won’t hit its prime for another 4-5 years and last at least another two decades or more.Robert Parker | 98 RPDark red-ruby. Knockout nose combines raspberry, plum, mocha, game, minerals and tobacco. Offers alluring Right Bank sweetness but also superb energy and definition; a lovely combination of Old World nuance and dark Napa Valley fruit. As suave and fine-grained as this wine is, it’s also penetrating and gripping, stony and high-pitched. Finishes with terrific tannic spine and mineral reserve. This very youthful wine still has upside.Vinous Media | 95 VMMore balanced than the overripe 2004, the ’05 Dominus is marked by dryness and firm tannins. It’s an obvious cellar candidate. Those tannins, along with unresolved acidity, give the wine a tough, almost rustic grittiness now. But there’s an enormous core of black currants, crushed blackberries, anise and cedar that’s deep and balanced. Should develop bottle complexity over many years, perhaps as long as 15.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEI appreciate the subtle complexity here. Aromas of dried herbs, currant bush, and sweet tobacco. Full bodied, with a lovely balance of fruit and spices. Very long and refined. This is open and pretty right now, no need to wait.James Suckling | 91 JSThis vintage produced a more feminine style than is typical of Dominus. It’s bright, sweet and floral, with scents of candied violets over chocolate-rich tannins. There is a grit and detail to those tannins, but it is masked for now in youthful fruit. There’s also a zest to the wine that implies it has the energy to live long into maturity.Wine & Spirits | 91 W&S

A very opulent, yet fresh nose. Perfumed with fresh mushrooms, currants, and blackberries. Full bodied with an amazing density of fruit, and ripe velvety tannins. So big and compacted, with a superb structure. Very 2006 in style but with much more intensity. The fruit amazing and intense. Leave this for another five or six years. 900 cases. Pull the cork after 2016. 15+25+24+34. Find the wineJames Suckling | 98 JSPotentially a candidate for perfection, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is the finest Bryant Family wine since the aforementioned 1997. Striking aromas and flavors of blackberries, blueberries, flowers, smoke, truffles, and sweet berries lead to a wine with profound concentration, a silky, layered mouthfeel, perfect integration of tannin and wood, and remarkable depth, intensity, and balance. The finish lasts nearly a minute. This stunning Cabernet should age nicely for 20-30 years.Robert Parker | 98 RPAt points rustic and rough-hewn, but also enormously complex and layered, with dense, elegant herb, olive, cedar, blackberry and wild berry fruit that is full-blown and tightly focused, rich and layered, gaining velocity on the finish while retaining a sense of wildness. Best from 2012 through 2024. 850 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WS(14.9%): Healthy ruby-red. Wild plum, dark berries, musky espresso, mocha and graphite on the varietally expressive nose. Shows wonderful mineral verve but this utterly seamless wine still conveys a musky suggestion of reduction. It's also more red than black fruit in style and shows its site more than the vintage character. Really lovely inner-mouth aromatic perfume here. Finishes with fine-grained tannins and lovely slowly building lift. This wine blew away many of the portier, clunkier examples in my 2007 group tastings but it may need earlier drinking than some vintages of Bryant. The silky, seamless finish features a light touch and terrific spice and mocha lift.Vinous Media | 95 VM

Deep garnet colored with a lingering hint of purple, the 2007 Insignia Proprietary Red Wine reveals the most seductive crème de cassis, Black Forest cake and licorice notions with touches of violets, eucalyptus, chocolate box and unsmoked cigars plus a waft of cedar chest. Full-bodied with tantalizing opulence yet compelling restraint, the palate beautifully juxtaposes the rich, ripe fruit with wonderful freshness and a firm yet plush backbone, finishing beautifully perfumed.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RP(14.5% alcohol): Saturated dark ruby! Ripe but reticent aromas of blackberry, boysenberry, bitter chocolate oak, licorice and mocha are very subtle and complex. Wonderfully pliant and balanced wine, with plush purple fruit and violet flavors displaying a smooth grain and superb depth. Spreads out to saturate the middle palate and builds slowly and inexorably on the aftertaste. This fully ripe, complete wine finishes with stylish tannins and outstanding length. There may still be more fireworks ahead for this beauty.Vinous Media | 96 VMAromas of blackberry, leather, lead pencil, and flowers. On the palate this is dense and velvety, with a gorgeous texture. Agile and balanced, this is hard not to drink right now. The finish is long, with notes of coffee and dark fruits. 15+24+23+33. Find the wineJames Suckling | 95 JSYou have to count this as another great Insignia, dry and complex and ageworthy, although the tannins are fierce now, and it may lack just a bit of the glamor of, say, the 2004 or 2001. It's certainly a big wine that floods the mouth with blackberry, black currant, cassis and new oak flavors. The tannins and acids make it aloof, resistant, tough. It wants time in the cellar. Best after 2013. Production was a hefty 13,500 cases.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEPhelps's top red wine is a blend of cabernet sauvignon (88 percent), merlot and petit verdot, all grown at estate vineyards. Most of the fruit comes from the southern districts of Napa Valley—Suscol, a relatively cool site in South Napa, along with Stags Leap and Oak Knoll. That cool tone comes across in red currant flavors, in the quiet presence of a substantial wine. It's sleek with dark tannin that feels youthful and austere, hinting at a Christmas spice that predicts what holiday celebrations might be in store ten years down the line.Wine & Spirits | 91 W&SDense and tight, with a chewy core of mocha-laced blackberry and currant flavors, combining power with a measure of grace. Not shy on tannic strength, this has more power than finesse. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot.--Blind 1997/2007 California Cabernet retrospective (January 2017). Drink now through 2025. 13,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Made in a more masculine style, the 2008 Dominus has all of that along with bigger body and more structure, fat, density and texture. Both are brilliant wines and they represent the finest back-to-back vintages for Dominus since 2001 and 2002 or 1990 and 1991. Both the 2007 and 2008 Dominus should drink well for 25-30 years.This estate, owned by Christian Moueix, includes the famed Napanook Vineyard that was the base of so many of the historic Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignons of the 1950s and 1960s. Interestingly, they have completely eliminated Merlot from the bottling. The 2007 Dominus is a 5,400-case blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. There are 4,200 cases of the 2008 Dominus which is composed of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. Lower yields resulted in a denser, more concentrated wine. The remarkable thing about these cuvees is that they smell like a hypothetical blend of a top Napa Cabernet Sauvignon and a serious Bordeaux, possibly a cross blend of a Pomerol and Pauillac. Both wines possess silky sweet tannins, which is the big difference between Dominus post-1990 and the first seven vintages, where the tannin content was relatively high. About 40% new oak is used in their upbringing.P.S. In a couple of years, readers should be on the look-out for a new estate wine from Christian Moueix. One mile north of the Napanook Vineyard, Moueix has purchased a 36-acre, already planted parcel known as the Schmidt Ranch. I tasted some of the 2009 barrel samples and this appears to be another promising venture with a completely different personality a more obviously Napa Valley/Cabernet Sauvignon, ripe style of wine than the more elegant, complex Dominus. I’m not sure what the name will be, but it will definitely not be called the Schmidt Ranch.Robert Parker | 99 RPNow 30 years old, this venture is a Californian classic. But the real success is how Christian Moueix, proprietor of Pétrus, so fine-tuned his approach with Cabernet while turning his back on Merlot. The 2008 is 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. While oak may be Napa’s mainstay, Dominus sees just 40% new barrels, leaving its fate more to a relentless focus on sorting and the Napanook vineyard’s sublime soils. A sweet floral edge enlivens creamy blackberry, sandalwood and gravelly mineral, with wellrobed tannins that only appear at the finish. For all the flesh, this has long-lived savoury nuance. Drinking Window 2013 - 2028Decanter | 97 DECThis is very pure fruit for Dominus. This will be interesting to see how it develops in the future. 2008 was a very small crop. Very perfumed and beautiful, with currants, flowers, and notes of mint. Full-bodied, with round velvety tannins that lead up to a chocolate and ripe berry finish. This is showing great fruit, and a great finish. Structurally this is like a 2005 La Mission. Best after 2014.James Suckling | 95 JSVery Bordeaux-like in its makeup and structure, this firm wine offers good acidity and tight tannins, delivering complex flavors of loamy earth, vivid dried currant and berry, with anise and mineral notes sprinkled in. My favorite young Dominus of late. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2022. 4,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS(a blend of 83% cabernet sauvignon, 13% cabernet franc and 4% petit verdot): Good full red-ruby. Fresher on the nose than the Napanook, showing raspberry, plum, mocha and tobacco aromas. Round and plummy in the mouth, with a restrained sweetness to the flavors of milk chocolate, mocha and licorice. A wine of moderate ripeness for the vintage, and in a shell today. Finishes with substantial dusty tannins and notes of plum, mocha and chocolate. I don’t find quite the structure or grip of the best years.Vinous Media | 93 VMA short crop of concentrated berries produced this grand vintage of Dominus, one that will need long aging to show its best. Decant it if you open the bottle now, allowing the initial cabernet franc scent of green herbs to integrate—Josiah Baldivino of Michael Mina in San Francisco described it as “adding a fine detail, like a pocket square in a suit.” Air brings out the full stature of the wine, its black cherry richness, violet scents and silken texture. For provençal lamb.Wine & Spirits | 93 W&SAnother fine Dominus, dry, well-structured and ageworthy. Lacks the flashiness of the dramatic 2007, but is still ripe and rich enough to drink now, and should develop over the next six years. Rewards for the depth of blackberries, cassis, blueberries and cedar, wrapped into plush tannins.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE

The 2008 Sloan Estate is racy and totally elegant from start to finish. It shows gorgeous freshness and vibrancy in its expressive dark red fruit, flowers, licorice and tobacco. Today the 2008 comes across as a relatively understated, subdued vintage for this wine. It should be absolutely fabulous in another few years. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2028.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96+ RP(14.8% alcohol): Bright medium ruby. Pure and high-pitched if reticent on the nose, offering aromas of blackberry, licorice, violet, menthol and sweet oak lifted by an element of dusty stone. Wonderfully suave, fine-grained and light on its feet, with a sexy oak element complementing the black raspberry, mineral and spice flavors. Very dense but not at all heavy, showing terrific floral energy and a light touch for this bottling, with no sign of dehydrated berries. The fruit still conveys a distinctly primary character but the wine’s verve makes it delicious already--in fact, I’m tempted to say that anyone who doesn’t love this is a spoilsport or a masochist. Wonderfully harmonious wine with the underlying spine to support a long evolution in bottle. The substantial dusty tannins show some obvious new oak.Vinous Media | 95 VMA rich, maturing Napa cabernet sauvignon with rich redcurrant-jelly character and a lot of subtle notes, ranging from cedar to savory chocolate caramel. Then comes a much more serious structure on the palate than the nose suggested, the tannins firm but well integrated. Long finish with some mineral character. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 93 JS

Phenomenal aromas and flavors of pure fruit with stones and rock. Turns to mint and eucalyptus. Full body, with powerful yet polished tannins. Creamy and fresh. Changes continually. The finish goes on for minutes Savory. And juicy.James Suckling | 99 JSComposed of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot, the 2009 IX Estate exhibits a flowery bouquet with notes of subtle smoke, blackberries, black currants, kirsch and baking spices. Rich, deep and full-bodied, this voluptuous, sensational blend boasts an inky/purple color. While approachable, it should hit its stride in 4-5 years and last for two to three decades.Robert Parker | 97 RPThe 2009 IX Estate is deep garnet in color. It needs a swirl or two to bring out notes of creme de cassis, chocolate-covered cherries, and blueberry preserves, followed by suggestions of cigar box, graphite, red loam, and tapenade. The palate is rich, full-bodied, and wonderfully bold, with bright, slow-maturing black fruits and firm, ripe grainy tannins, finishing long with saline and gentle herbal layers.The Wine Independent | 97 TWIFull, deep ruby. Deep aromas of dark fruits, spices, smoky oak and flowers, plus a whiff of game. Utterly plush and mouthfilling but not at all heavy, showing serious thickness and high-altitude density to its sweet blue and black fruit, spice and chocolate flavors. And yet this wine’s floral element gives it an almost light touch, if that’s possible. Some subtle soil tones reminded me of the outstanding Syrah from this site on Pritchard Hill. Finishes with substantial but noble tannins and terrific length.Vinous Media | 96 VMA muscle-bound effort, tight, dense and chewy, with tar, blackberry, cedar and tobacco flavors. Ends with a pleasant wall of tannins and a persistent push of flavors. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2014 through 2030. 1,300 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

The 2009 Dominus is a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet colored, it rolls easily, sensuously out of the glass with evolving fruit notes of baked blackcurrants, plum preserves, mulberries and fruitcake plus underlying suggestions of charcuterie, camphor, chocolate-covered cherries and candied violets with just a touch of cast iron pan. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is an exercise in balance, with loads of emerging black fruit and earthy layers and a solid line of finely grained tannins, finishing very long with a perfumed lift.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPDeep ruby opaque colored, the 2009 Dominus is a killer bottle of wine made from 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and the balance Petit Verdot. Loaded with notions of black currants, black cherries, graphite, lead pencil shavings, and crushed flowers, this beauty is full-bodied, deep, concentrated, and decadent. Perfectly balanced, pure and layered, it’s a sensational wine and you should count yourself lucky if you have bottles of this in the cellar. It will keep for another two to three decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDStunning nose of lavender and flowers. Currants and raspberries. Subtle and intriguing. Full and dense but wonderfully balanced with firm and silky tannins and a persistent finish. Dusty texture. A wine so balanced that you want to drink it already. Better in 2017.James Suckling | 98 JSBright, full ruby-red. Highly complex, thoroughly ripe scents of black raspberry, cassis, dark plum, tar, tobacco, mocha and minerals, lifted by a violet topnote. Wonderfully suave and fine-grained but still quite youthful, spreading out to coat the palate without leaving any undue impression of weight. Shows a distinct black cherry medicinal reserve. This very smooth wine finishes with a broad dusting of ripe tannins and steadily building length. Approachable now owing to its successfully integrated acidity and tannins, but I'd rather give this beauty a bit more time in the cellar.Vinous Media | 94 VMDelightfully harmonious given its intensity, with complex aromas of savory herbs, flowers, ripe and dried currant and berry, crushed rock and cedar flavors. Well-proportioned, focused and persistent. Very youthful and vibrant. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2014 through 2030. 6,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSWhile this is not the best Dominus vintage, it does show elegantly smooth tannins, dryness and earthiness that accompanies the black­berry and cassis fruit. It's curiously soft, which might limit its ageability. Shows an uncanny similarity to the 2000.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WE

Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Kayli Morgan Vineyard gives up bold blackcurrant cordial, blackberry compote and raspberry pie scents with hints of chocolate-covered cherries, roses and lilacs plus hints of charcuterie and yeast extract. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is wonderfully elegant, with wonderful vivacity and perfume and a satiny texture with a very long finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPPure sensuality in the glass, the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Kayli Morgan Vineyard is going to be nearly impossible to resist in its youth. At the same time, the Kayli Morgan has a track record of developing beautifully in bottle, and I imagine that is exactly what will happen here. Cedar, spice box, cassis and plums burst from the glass in this impressive, layered wine. A hint of mocha develops later, but it is pretty clear the 2009 is playing its cards close to the vest. There is enough inner tension to make me think the 2009 has a very bright future. Jayson Woodbridge describes 2009 as a year with a tiny crop and equally small berries. It is also the year Woodbridge brought in a helicopter to dry out the fruit after the mid-October typhoon dropped a huge amount of rain on Napa Valley.Antonio Galloni | 95+ AGPure and understated, with a charming mix of elegant ripe black cherry and plum, subtle fresh earth, tobacco and cedar, ending with fleshy, fine-grained tannins. Less opulent than prior vintages. Drink now through 2024. 600 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

Araujo’s 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard is a picture perfect example of the year. Vibrant, precise and beautifully chiseled, the 2010 boasts serious depth and concentration. The aromas and flavors are incredibly vivid in this textured, dazzling Cabernet Sauvignon. Hints of dark blue and black fruit, mocha, espresso and grilled herbs flesh out on the huge finish. Today the 2010 is unusually open, but it is almost certain to shut down in bottle over the next 6-12 months. The 2010 is a super-classic Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon from Araujo. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2035.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPAraujo’s 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard is a picture perfect example of the year. Vibrant, precise and beautifully chiseled, the 2010 boasts serious depth and concentration. The aromas and flavors are incredibly vivid in this textured, dazzling Cabernet Sauvignon. Hints of dark blue and black fruit, mocha, espresso and grilled herbs flesh out on the huge finish. Today the 2010 is unusually open, but it is almost certain to shut down in bottle over the next 6-12 months. The 2010 is a super-classic Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon from Araujo.Vinous Media | 98 VMA big, plush Napa cab, which still offers lots of dried fruit, such as berries and figs, as well as chocolate and vanilla. It’s full-bodied with a rich, layered, ripe-tannin structure and mouth feel. Flavorful finish. This is really starting to show complexity with black truffles and leaves to the ripe fruit. Drink now.James Suckling | 94 JSPure, rich and delicious, with a sumptuous core of melted black licorice, dark berry, nutmeg-scented spice, loamy earth and dried herb. Shows impressive focus, density and persistence. Tempting now, but should age well. Best from 2014 through 2028. 1,900 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

The 2010 Proprietary Red Cariad reveals great intensity along with abundant notes of unsmoked tobacco leaf interwoven with blueberry, blackberry and cassis fruit, charcoal and coffee bean nuances as well as a Pauillac-like lead pencil shaving character. This blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot and 14% Cabernet Franc is one of the finest wines I tasted over the 12 days I spent tasting in Napa Valley in late August and early September. This remarkable 2010 should drink beautifully for 20 or more years.Robert Parker | 100 RP(a blend of 48% cabernet sauvignon, 28% merlot, 14% petit verdot and 10% cabernet franc): Saturated, bright ruby-red. Deeper and darker on the nose than the Tychson Hill cabernet, offering vibrant scents of blackcurrant, graphite minerality and bitter chocolate. At once round and delineated in the mouth, with dark berry and mineral flavors displaying outstanding depth without excess weight. With its very firm tannic structure, this typically Medoc-like wine will need a good eight to ten years to evolve in bottle and may ultimately merit an even higher rating. These vines in Madrona Vineyard in St. Helena were planted on an alluvial fan in the 1980s.Vinous Media | 95+ VMLots of ripe fruit, chocolate and iron. Full body, with loads of velvety tannins and a round and rich palate. It is round and mouthfilling yet fresh and beautiful. Delicious already but will improve with age.James Suckling | 95 JSNotable for its charcoal and graphite woodiness, along with its edgy entry into the core of dark berry fruit. Keeps you at arm’s length, with the flavors both concentrated and nuanced. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2024. 550 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

The 2010 IX Estate is another perfect wine. Its opaque purple color is accompanied by copious aromas of blueberries, cassis, pen ink, asphalt, licorice and subtle oak. Full-bodied and rich but light on its feet, this spectacular effort was created from a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot. Enjoy this profound wine over the next 25+ years.Robert Parker | 100 RPSuper-complex on the nose with roses, pure fruit and walnuts. Hints of plums. It’s full-bodied with velvety tannins and crazy spicy character. Firm, chewy texture. Savory finish. Even slightly salty.James Suckling | 97 JSSaturated bright ruby to the rim. Initially brooding, dark nose opened spectacularly with aeration to reveal complex scents of blackberry, blueberry, licorice pastille, minerals, mocha, smoky rocks, black olive and dark chocolate. Enters the mouth with a plush wave of fruit, but lovely mineral and floral lift gives the mid-palate shape and definition. Large-scaled, wonderfully sweet, voluptuous, seamless wine with powerful, saline soil and rock tones and substantial but utterly refined, harmonious tannins. Finishes plush, broad, sweet and long, saturating the mouth and building. This beauty may be close to its apogee right now but it should go on for at least another 15 years. A superb showing.Vinous Media | 96 VMDeep garnet in color, the 2010 IX Estate flies out of the glass with maturing scents of prunes, stewed blackberries, and fruitcake, followed by hints of wild sage, damp soil, and unsmoked cigars with a waft of wet slate. The medium to full-bodied palate is bright and drinking nicely now, with chewy tannins and a refreshing backbone, finishing on a lingering umami note and an herbal lift.The Wine Independent | 95 TWIFrom a late, cool vintage, the 2010s from Napa often find more favour with European than Californian palates. Very deep in colour, this is now showing some evolution. The nose is rich in blackcurrant and mint aromas; it’s vibrant and stylish. The palate is weightier, with more opulence and firm tannins. Sleek and elegant, the long finish is threaded by fine acidity.Decanter | 94 DECPleasing for its richness, elegance and finesse, this graceful red presents a delicate mix of dark berry, licorice, light cedar and loamy earth, gliding along on the finish, where the wine is amazingly polished. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2026. 1,100 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

Composed of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot, the stunning, full-bodied 2010 Dominus boasts an exceptional perfume of hoisin sauce, licorice, underbrush, forest floor, plums, black currants and jammy cherries intertwined with hints of cedar, baking spices and oak. Full-bodied and voluptuously textured, the 2010 is on a slightly faster evolutionary track than the 2009 (somewhat of an anomaly for these two vintages). This exquisite as well as prodigious 2010 can be drunk young, but it should age effortlessly for 20-25 years. Bravo!Looking at the harvest dates for the 2009 through 2012 Napanook and Dominus reveals that none of these were early, very warm years, such as 2013 is promising to be in northern California. For example, in 2009 the harvest took place between October 5 and 12; 2010 between October 4 and 23; 2011 between October 15 and 24; and 2012 between October 9 and 21. Production has remained steady because the estate crop-thins as much as 50% of the harvest to ensure bunch regularity, even ripening and reasonable yields. The second wine, Napanook, tends to come in around 3,000 cases per year, and Dominus around 5,000 cases per year. I was joking with Christian Moueix when I visited the winery and I told him I am one of the geezers old enough to remember his first vintage of 1983, which was tasted at the Rombauer Cellars until he moved to what appears to be an old bank building in downtown St. Helena, after which they constructed a spectacular winery in Yountville that resembles an extension of their historic terroir. Another great vintage, the 2012s have slightly lower alcohols than the 2009s and 2010s, which surprised me given the exuberant nature of this vintage and its boisterous fruit and glycerin. I was shocked to realize that 2013 will mark over thirty vintages for Christian Moueix and Dominus, not to mention my visits each year. How time flies!Robert Parker | 100 RPA cabernet-based red that’s all about the finish. Shows phenomenal character of caramelised orange, berries and lightly toasted oak. It’s also wonderfully structured, with great tannin, fruit, and acid balance. Try after 2018.James Suckling | 99 JSBright, deep ruby. Ineffable scents of dark berries, graphite, minerals, licorice, violet, dark chocolate and sage. Wonderfully suave, fine-grained and plush but light on its feet, and every bit as complex in the mouth as on the nose. Really impeccably balanced, classy wine with uncanny precision and inner-mouth aromatic lift and a resounding, endlessly building aftertaste that leaves the taste buds quivering. A wine of great finesse and energy, not to mention noble palate-saturating, fully ripe tannins. This is more about subtlety than weight, but is still hard to scrape off your palate. This already coats every square millimeter of the palate but may yet expand further. All of this fruit was harvested in October.Vinous Media | 97 VMA brooding bouquet of cassis, wild berries, pencil shavings and exotic spice is followed by a deep, layered and intense wine, framed by fine tannins and bright acidity. There is a vibrancy and energy to this wine that makes it particularly compelling, no doubt partly thanks to the long, cool growing season, but also in keeping with all the work Dominus has been doing in their vineyards to balance the vines and prevent sun burn. Drinking Window 2020 - 2050.Decanter | 96 DECThe wild swings in weather during the 2010 growing season took out the cabernet franc at Dominus, this vintage blending Cabernet Sauvignon (95%) with Petit Verdot. It has more voluptuous warmth than wines from this site in western Yountville usually give on release, rich with black currant flavors, scents of violets and black spice. The texture is silky, with an undercurrent of green herb and pine needle in the tannins that adds complexity to all the saturated currant and blueberry fruit.Wine & Spirits | 93 W&SGraceful and refined, offering a subtle mix of delicate Cabernet flavors, with dried currant, cherry, herb, cedar, cigar box and graphite notes, ending with smooth, integrated tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2024. 3,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

From the Howell Mountain Arc Vineyard (usually 1,300 to 1,400 cases produced in a normal year), the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Arc Vineyard could be a candidate for perfection when it hits full maturity in 7-8 years. However, I wouldn’t hesitate to drink it now given the sweetness of the tannin and the abundance of the ripe, concentrated, delicious fruit. The nose exhibits classic aromas of mulberries, graphite, licorice, forest floor, black currants and blackberries. This is a broad, full throttle, multilevel, sensational wine.Proprietor Jayson Woodbridge, one of the wine world’s most compelling, outspoken, irreverent, bigger-than-life personalities, can get away with just about anything he wants to say or do simply because year after year he proves what great wine is all about from his 15-acre Kayli Morgan Vineyard east of St. Helena, his 15-acre parcel on Howell Mountain, and another vineyard on the upslope of the Eisele Vineyard (recently acquired by Chateau Latour in Pauillac), called Few and Far Between. Woodbridge was recently profiled in a wonderful graphic wine magazine called “Loam Baby,” and may have set a Guiness Book World record for the number of times the word “F***” was used in that interview. I first met Woodbridge, who hales from Canada, when he released his first vintage, 2000, which is still going strong and showing more staying power than I would ever have imagined even though I loved the wine from the beginning. It remains a sensational wine at age 13. He currently has six cuvees of Cabernet Sauvignon, the Kayli Morgan Vineyard, the Arc Vineyard on Howell Mountain, the Few and Far Between Vineyard in Calistoga near the Eisele Vineyard, a wine called Deep Time which spends considerably more time in barrel than its siblings, a wine called Precious, and depending on his mood, another wine called Fortunate Son. He also makes a hedonistic, attractive Pinot Noir from the Stanly Vineyard called Cherry Pie, and he has had enormous success with the high quality yet bargain-basement priced selections from around the world called Layer Cake. The Few and Far Between Vineyard is a 5-acre parcel on what Woodbridge calls the “upside of the Eisele Vineyard.” The only blend in his portfolio, this cuvee includes 15% Cabernet Franc. The first vintage was 2008, and this is another exceptional wine, with the 2010 achieving perfection and the 2012 capable of doing so. I only tasted two vintages of the Precious cuvee made from Woodbridge’s favorite barrels. Normally he limits production to 100 or so cases, which would be four barrels. I only tasted one vintage of the Cabernet Sauvignon Deep Time because it spends up to 40 months in barrel and almost becomes like a great chef’s reduction sauce because of evaporation. It is normally a selection from the Kayli Morgan Vineyard. It is a remarkable wine, but very little is available.Robert Parker | 98+ RP(15.5% alcohol): Good dark red. Pure sex appeal on the nose, with black raspberry, licorice, menthol and mineral aromas buoyed by a violet quality. Like liquid velvet on the palate; a great, sweet fruit bomb with a positively three-dimensional texture. Dark berry flavors are complicated by a saline element and lifted by sneaky underlying minerality. The finish is lightly saline and endless, with ripe tannins totally buffered by the wine's voluptuous texture. My sample gained in firmness with 48 hours in the recorked bottle without losing any of its verve, a very good sign for its likely aging curve.Vinous Media | 95+ VMPure, ripe and plush, with tiers of blackberry, raspberry, cherry, plum, mocha and spice. Shows some heat from ripeness, causing the finish to becomes a bit diffuse. Needs a little time. Drink now through 2024. 700 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

Bright full ruby. Very dark nose combines black fruits, violet, graphite and river rock, plus subtle hints of molasses, tobacco and leather; less relentlessly primary than more recent vintages, but then 2010 widely produced explosive, complex, soil-driven aromas. This wine, too, shows a slightly liqueur-like quality yet seems less evolved than the Roberta’s. Stunningly silky yet penetrating too, with its dark fruit, mineral and floral flavors conveying terrific vinosity and cut. A firm tannic spine gives this savory wine terrific grip on the palate-staining back end. A distinctly European style in the context of Napa Valley, with its outstanding flavor complexity aided by alcohol below 14%. (100% new French oak).Vinous Media | 98 VMThe 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Vin State Lane Vineyard is a 275-case blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot. It reveals intense red and black currant fruit, good acidity, hints of camphor and graphite, superb purity, a full-bodied texture and an extremely youthful (almost like a barrel sample) freshness and focus. This is a remarkably young yet promising, full throttle, beautifully made Cabernet Sauvignon that should be cellared for 5-7 years and drunk over the following two to three decades.Robert Parker | 96 RPA classy, Bordeaux-like red from Napa, with ripe, rich fruit and tiers of currant, spice, cigar box and tobacco leaf. Well-built, showing a measure of restraint, this delivers fine-grained tannins and a long, tapered finish. Best from 2014 through 2026. 275 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

A remarkable wine, the 2010 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select has gone from strength to strength since it was in cask. It is stunningly rich, with classic, fragrant notes of blackcurrants, blackberries, vanilla, graphite and spring flowers. It exhibits an opaque purple color, with a full-bodied, massive mouthfeel, but no heaviness, and again, a flawless integration of acidity, tannin, alcohol and wood. It’s classic California Cabernet, but beautifully put together, showing impeccable craftsmanship and fabulous potential. This is obviously a very young, infantile style of Cabernet that won’t hit its prime for at least another decade and last close to half a century, based on how older vintages that were less well-endowed have matured from Shafer.Robert Parker | 100 RPThe Shafer family has made compelling reds for decades and this one is a knock-out. Fabulous character of currants, mint, spice and wet earth. Juicy and fruity, with an intense chewy finish. Needs time to age.James Suckling | 98 JSBright, dark ruby to the rim. Very pure if subdued aromas of blackcurrant, black cherry, dark chocolate and minerals; conveys a strong Stags Leap terroir character. Enters the mouth voluptuous, broad and seamless but still youthful, showing a faintly inky reserve to its powerful dark fruit, licorice and mineral flavors. This Napa Valley masterpiece is developing at a snail’s pace. The finish goes on and on, with substantial fine-grained, toothcoating tannins in perfect balance with the wine’s fruit. Wonderfully sweet and voluminous but not excessively so, as there’s so much else going on here. This wine was only a tad more developed than a spectacular sample I tasted as part of a vertical tasting I did at the estate in 2016. A great vintage for Shafer.Vinous Media | 97 VMThe producer’s annual, highly anticipated 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, this comes from the wilds of the appellation’s rocky hillsides. This is a burly, distinctive and sizable wine, ripe yet refined, having been given three years in barrel and another in bottle before release. Chocolaty tobacco combines with pencil shavings and dense blackberry before finishing in an explosion of black pepper. Gorgeous, it will get even more interesting over time, through 2025.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEPure, rich and intense, massive and well-built, with wall-to-wall ripe berry, currant, cedar and spice notes, framed by gutsy, chewy tannins and aided by the long, intense, layered finish. Drink now through 2027. 2,400 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

The 2010 Proprietary Red is very deep garnet colored with a hint of purple. It offers up wonderfully bold, expressive notes of crème de cassis, black cherry compote and mincemeat pie with wafts of bay leaves, incense, Chinese five spice and hoisin plus wafts of chargrill and yeast extract. Full-bodied, rich and opulent, the palate is laden with layer upon layer of exotic spice-laced black fruits with a firm yet plush frame and very long finish with some licorice notes coming through.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPFull medium ruby. Very ripe but reticent scents of black fruits, minerals, mocha, espresso and spices. Voluptuous and plush on entry, saturating the palate with a slightly unrefined wave of black fruits, minerals and mocha. This outsized, full-bodied, plummy wine shows lovely mineral verve, surprisingly restrained sweetness and a complicating saline element. Finishes with sumptuous, building tannins and terrific plum and graphite persistence. This wine is ripe enough to give great pleasure now but I’d still hold my bottles for the tannins to be further absorbed. It certainly has the stuffing to go on for many more years.Vinous Media | 94 VMA big and rich red with black currant and blueberry and chocolate. Full and vast. A more typical Napa cab of the period. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 94 JS

Amazing aromas of blackberries, blueberries, mushrooms and violets. Full body with a dense, precise palate and a firm, intense finish. Masculine but formed and polished. This needs at least four or five years to come even more together.James Suckling | 97 JS(picked on November 1): Red-ruby color, the darkest of these 2011s. Dark berries, coffee and licorice on the nose, with a sexy animal character adding interest. Less sweet than the Lotus but with noteworthy finesse of texture to the flavors of blue fruits, menthol and dark spices. Very pure and laid-back today, finishing with sneaky length. The tannins seem much more successfully integrated with the wine’s fruit than they appeared to be in barrel a year ago. Winemaker Cameron Vawter noted that the 2011s were racked only after the malolactic fermentations and again for the blending.Vinous Media | 93 VMThe 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Hershey Vineyard, which comes from a site on Howell Mountain, is still youthful, with a dense plum color as well as a powerful, masculine nose of blackcurrants, chocolate, graphite, and scorched earth. It stays tight, compact, and structured on the palate, with lots of tannins, and it remains to be seen if there’s enough fruit to handle all the structure. At the end of the day, I think it does. Give bottles another 3-4 years and it should keep for another decade.Jeb Dunnuck | 92 JDThe fruit for the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Hershey Vineyard was picked on November 2, and it is certainly one of the stars of the vintage, reflecting the success Howell Mountain enjoyed in this vintage. It possesses excellent ripeness along with mulberry, blueberry and black raspberry fruit intermixed with hints of wet rock and graphite. Ripe, lush and medium to full-bodied with sweet tannin, this beauty, because of the precociousness and forward character of the 2011s, is best consumed over the next 10-12 years.Proprietor Hi Sang Lee has resurrected this once historic estate in Rutherford where the winery was first constructed in 1883 by H. W. Helms. There are four cuvees as of 2010, the Crystal Springs Vineyard on Howell Mountain, the Helms Vineyard in Rutherford, the Hershey Vineyard on Howell Mountain and the Lotus Vineyard in Napa Valley. They also produce a wine called Onda, which is meant to be a more forward styled, lower priced effort. Kudos to Hi Sang Lee and his son for resurrecting this historic estate.Robert Parker | 90-92 RPA rich, powerful expression of dense loamy earth, tobacco, black licorice, mineral and dark berry flavors. This never lets up, framed by persistent, gutsy tannins. Drink now through 2022. 304 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

(blended with 7% cabernet franc): Enticing nose melds redcurrant, cherry, anise, milk chocolate and a floral element. Suave, sweet and graceful, showing a lovely sugar/acid balance to the red fruit, mineral and sexy oak flavors. Boasts sneaky flavor intensity and subtle length, finishing with smoother tannins than the Helms. A very successful, refined 2011 cabernet.Vinous Media | 92 VMFairly massive, with deep, rich fruit and ample tannins. The core flavors are centered on currant, plum and blackberry. Cedary oak and crushed rock loaminess are evident on the chewy finish. Best from 2016 through 2025. 308 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

The 2012 Thorevilos is flamboyant, phenomenally concentrated, full-bodied, majestic and totally prodigious. It can be drunk young, but most readers will probably prefer to give it a few years of bottle age and consume it over the following 30+ years.Robert Parker | 99+ RPAbreu’s 2012 Thorevilos boasts remarkable depth, power and intensity. Distinctly ferrous, savory notes open up in the glass, followed by game, tobacco, smoke and bright red stone fruits. A huge, explosive wine, the Thorevilos is the most tannic and structured of Abreu’s 2012s. Accordingly, it is likely to require the most time to come around. When it does, it will be magnificent.Vinous Media | 99 VMA juicy and savory red with black fruit, pomace and toasted oak. Powerful and tannic. Muscular with amazing form. Full body, bright and beautiful fruit. Grabs your attention, yet subtle. Persistent. Try in 2020. About 300 cases made. March release.James Suckling | 98 JS