It’s time to shrug off winter … which for many wine fans means Bordeaux’s ritual of showing off (and selling) its nascent vintage in barrel during en primeur season. En primeur is the first chance both consumers and trade get to see the results of Bordeaux’s most recent harvest, in this case 2018, en masse. Despite being unfinished, the wines will be offered for sale as futures, with delivery of the finished and bottled wines coming in late 2020 or early 2021. (Check out our guide to buying futures for more on the benefits and pitfalls of en primeur purchases.

If you’re considering buying Bordeaux futures then you may want a little detail on the wines, and that’s where Wine Spectator comes in. During en primeur season I spend two weeks in Bordeaux, splitting my time between face-to-face visits with producers to taste the wines and discuss the vintage’s character and quality, and blind tastings of nearly 300 barrel samples organized by Wine Spectator staff. These tastings will generate the official reviews that we’ll post here and in the magazine. (I never review wines tasted non-blind at the châteaus).

For starters, it’s good to check back on our 2018 Bordeaux Harvest Report. The season started wet—very, very wet. And then it turned dry—very, very dry. The spring saw heavy rains, which led to increased mildew pressures that had producers scrambling to ward off disease. Organic producers were particularly hard-pressed to keep their crops healthy. The humidity, combined with May and July hailstorms that impacted the Côtes de Bourg as well as Sauternes to some extent, reduced yields in some areas. More than appellation-to-appellation though, the vagaries of mildew are producer-to-producer. While some estates suffered notable losses, overall, Bordeaux produced an average-size crop (a welcome return after the frost-devastated 2017).

As July arrived, things changed for the better, with warm temperatures and drought-like conditions for the second half of summer into harvest. July, August and September were all warmer than recent averages for those months. A late-season rain was easily shrugged off, as the grapes were small and thick-skinned in the end. Cabernet Sauvignon relished that warm, dry summer, while all the major red grapes performed well. Harvest was ideal and stress-free.

The Bordelais are pretty good at hyping a vintage, and are already comparing 2018 to 2010, the current benchmark vintage. That’s because 2010, a near-perfect vintage on both the Left and Right Bank, was also marked by a wet start followed by a warm, dry finish. But 2010 didn’t have the same mildew pressure as 2018 … and, well, benchmarks are benchmarks, and vintages as awesome as 2010 don’t happen very often. So while there’s good buzz in the region, let’s see how the wines show in these early tastings before we get too far ahead of ourselves.

For more background on how I move around Bordeaux during the en primeur season, reference my previous Bordeaux barrel-tasting coverage from 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

Keep in mind that my en primeur tastings are an introduction to the vintage, focusing on wines both widely available and popular in the U.S. market and highlighting sleepers and values, but this report is not a comprehensive overview of the vintage. For that you’ll have to wait for my annual report in the magazine, in March 2021. You can check out my 2016 Bordeaux tasting report in the March 31 issue, and check out our 2015 coverage for a travel feature on places to stay if you decide to visit.

Follow James Molesworth on Instagram, at Instagram.com/JMolesworth1, and on Twitter, at Twitter.com/JMolesworth1.

Senior editor James Molesworth is Wine Spectator’s new lead taster for California Cabernet Sauvignon. He recently returned to Napa Valley for more visits with top wineries. And don’t miss our Q&A with James on his Napa Cab eureka moments, his scoring philosophy, and what he’s up to when he’s not tasting wine.

All wines included in this report were tasted non-blind, at the properties in Napa. The wines are listed in the order of tasting.

Abreu Vineyards’ Chef in the Cave

Matt Morris Photography/Courtesy of Abreu Vineyards

Abreu Vineyards winemaker Brad Grimes

Abreu winemaker Brad Grimes has the rugged winemaker look down cold—a bit Cornas meets Catskills, with a full beard and a well-worn T-shirt. His winemaking approach draws on his background as a chef and exemplifies his on-the-job training and intuition. There is no strict recipe per se, but the approach does run within a few lanes, as Grimes puts the parts together early on and then builds a blend from there.

As I taste the young wines, I see parallels with Clos des Papes in the Rhône, which keeps foudres of the three main varieties together but in varying percentages, using those lots to build the blend. These are rich, powerful and dense expressions of Cabernet blends, but they’re matched by an inner energy and brightness. They are showstoppers that also make you think, rather than just leaving you spent.

Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc are given almost equal status, with Cabernet Franc the “great unifier,” according to Grimes.

“That’s the grape that allows us to use so much Petit Verdot,” he adds, explaining that tanks contain usually two if not all three of the varieties for co-fermentation.

A sample drawn from one is 2018 Madrona Ranch fruit that has fermented dry. Made of equal parts of the two Cabernets with 15 percent Petit Verdot, it’s cassis-laden and very much in the house style here: big, broad and deep. Yet it zips along, too, with a fresh bay note through the finish.

“Immediately in this vintage, there’s this big, lush feel,” says Grimes.

A tank of all 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon (a bit of an anomaly here) from Cappella shows very intense black cherry and blackberry purée flavors with a lacing of mouth-puckering black licorice snap. It’s remarkably defined and focused already.

Tasting a sample of 2018 Las Posadas, made from equal parts Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot along with some Cabernet Sauvignon, shows a saturated plum paste feel with lots of dark bramble and tobacco notes.

The 2018 Thorevilos combines two different blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon and is the tightest of the bunch (all four wines are clearly nascent wines in need of élevage) with cassis, bitter plum and sagebrush notes that are very steeped in feel.

As an example of what happens after that élevage, we try a bottle of the 2007 Cappella, which is sappy and intense. A fruit-laden wine in the house style here, it still sports an inner brightness despite its density, with a long graphite finish that lets a host of bitter plum, cassis, ganache and roasted juniper notes flow through beautifully.

Spottswoode: A Quintessential California Wine Story

Courtesy of Spottswoode Estate

Spottswoode Estate stands the test of time.

Winemaker Aron Weinkauf has been here since 2006, working as head winemaker since the 2010 vintage, and today Spottswoode makes around 4,000 cases annually of Sauvignon Blanc (using some purchased fruit) along with 2,000 cases of its Lyndenhurst Cabernet Sauvignon, which combines estate and purchased fruit. The top wine is the estate Cabernet, which tops out at around 4,000 cases.

For my visit, owner Beth Novak Milliken opened a vertical of the Spottswoode Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, covering 2010 through 2016, providing an ideal look at the consistency of style and quality here, as well as the wines’ slow and subtle evolution over time. There’s a delicacy to the Spottswoode Cabernet, but the wine is no pushover. Sneaky long and with tensile strength, it’s a yoga pose held for minutes, in stark contrast with the stereotypical Napa Cab’s bodybuilder reps. It has a uniquely pure feel, and while it’s in a less “obvious” style, its ageability is clear. The wine, like the estate, has the reach to connect Napa’s past to its future.

The 2016 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is youthfully tight (and not yet released), with a coiled feel to a range of plum skin, cassis and cherry paste flavors augmented with violet and mineral hints. It’s long, very fine-grained and extremely persistent, though it relies more on precision and its slatelike cut than on sheer ripeness or power. Mind you though, the wine is clearly ripe.

“That’s the result of the path Tony [Soter] put us on,” says Novak Milliken. “Energy, precision— I think those are the words people use today, versus balance in the past. But that elegance, that feel, is what we aim for. We think that is the expression of this place. A wine that shows well when young but also has the ability to age considerably.”

That slatelike feel, along with alluring cut and polish, ran throughout the range of vintages in the flight. The 2015 has a bit more lift and range than the ’16 (the latter from a notably high-yield crop, notes Weinkauf), as it has had an extra year to unfurl, with its plum paste and cassis notes showing concentration but still in harmony with the subtle, fine-grained feel that carries the finish.

The 2014 shows the character of the vintage that is steadily winning me over as the most intriguing of these past three big years, with notes of sagebrush and savory amid the tightly focused cassis and plum flavors. The wine has a bit more tension than ’15 and ’16, with the mineral edge piercing the finish and adding extra length.

The 2013 is bright, with more floral lift, tinged with damson fruit and bitter cherry flavors that are redder in profile than the norm here. It has a coulis feel through the finish, with its mineral edge peeking through.

The 2012 is another highlight in the flight, with notable energy, as it seems to be kicking into a second gear, sporting a full range of bitter plum, cherry preserve and juicy cassis flavors, harnessed by a twinge of plum skin on the finish. It has tension and cut but still feels generous, a wonderful combination.

The 2011 is the plumpest in feel of all the vintages here, though it is equally pure in its profile, with plum and cassis again the featured fruit flavors.

The 2010 seems to have hit its second phase, picking up the lightest echo of mint amid a polished and very lengthy beam of cassis and plum puree flavors. It’s remarkably refined and very, very stylish.

Cathy Corison’s Unconventional California Cabernets

Bob McClenahan

Cathy Corison says vineyards are just starting to mature at age 20.

Cathy Corison is definitely doing her own thing. Diminutive and wearing blue wire-framed glasses, Corison has worked 41 commercial vintages in Napa, “and one vintage as intern,” she adds. It’s safe to say her experience allows her to chart her own course.

Corison’s wines typically check in under 14 percent alcohol, low compared to most Napa Cabernets. The style is bright, high-toned and fresh, with a crunchier feel rather than plush or dense. And they age remarkably well—I recently sprung for a bottle of Corison’s 1996 in a restaurant and it was a wine that was fully mature, confidently so, and in no hurry to finish its run, either.

“The main question is what is the best thing to do with a given place,” Corison says. “I’m looking for energy, vibration. And what drew me here was the dirt. I knew this dirt could produce long-lived wines.”

The first Kronos Vineyard bottling was the 1996, and the vineyard yields about 400 cases annually. Corison bought the nearby Sunbasket Vineyard, planted by André Tchelistcheff in the 1950s and from which she had been purchasing fruit for decades, in 2015.

The 2014 Kronos shows a core of bitter cherry and loganberry fruit, with a distinctly juicy feel and flash of savory through the finish.

The 2014 Sunbasket is similarly juicy in feel, with a slightly brighter profile than the Kronos, showing damson plum and raspberry coulis notes and flashes of tea and mulled spice.

The 2014 Napa Cabernet bottling sources fruit from three vineyards, Hayne, Grech and Sunbasket. At 2,500 cases, it’s the workhorse here, offering the house style of brisk pomegranate and bitter cherry fruit with a sleek, iron-tinged finish.

To demonstrate the wine’s ageability, Corison opened a bottle of her 2001 Napa Cabernet, which comes off as very elegant yet quite persistent, with gently steeped cherry and damson fruit infused with rooibos tea, sandalwood and blood orange notes, all backed by a light sanguine edge on the finish. No bombast. Instead it relies on precision and balance, allowing it to reach maturity and then easily hold steady. Just like the winemaker.

Dalla Valle Takes the Hard Road

Jimmy Hayes Photography/Courtesy of Dalla Valle

Naoko Dalla Valle walks the barrel room with her daughter Maya

“Everyone thought I was crazy when I bought up here and planted vines,” says Naoko Dalla Valle. “They said, ‘Why don’t you plant on the valley floor, where it’s easier?'”

“This was really one of the first wineries to take that approach,” says Andy Erickson, who has made the wines here since 2007. (He and Dalla Valle met at a barbecue at Screaming Eagle.) “It was a change in the mindset of Napa to move to lower yields, more difficult-to-work hillside sites. At the time there was basically just Diamond Creek and Joseph Phelps. Dunn was just getting started. Dalla Valle helped show the way.“

Today Dalla Valle produces around 3,000 cases annually, with about 1,000 cases each of the Cabernet and Maya bottlings and an additional 500 or so of Collina, their introductory wine that uses fruit from younger vines and is made to be approachable when young.

The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon (75 percent Cabernet with the rest Cab Franc) has an intense core of cassis infused liberally with toasted spice and raspberry coulis notes, with a fine-grained texture that adds energy through the earth-tinged finish.

The 2016 Maya (two-thirds Cabernet and the rest Cab Franc) has a plusher, denser feel, with plum paste, cassis and tar notes running together, backed by a long licorice and singed sandalwood–framed finish. It comes from the main block on the estate which, Erickson notes, “is always more aromatic and denser in fruit.”

The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon has matured nicely, showing rooibos tea, damson and cherry notes against a backdrop of singed apple wood.

The 2008 Maya has a similar profile but an extra layer of fruit, as Erickson noted, with finer-grained structure and a beautiful incense-infused finish.

The 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon is at a delightful peak of maturity, with perfumed cedar, sandalwood and tea notes around a gently steeped red currant and plum core. The cedar note holds sway through the finish but is supple and charming and not at all dried out or grainy.

The 1998 Maya is a shade darker once again, with plum and black currant fruit that is still remarkably fresh, with singed cedar, vanilla and tea notes weaving around. It has a touch of tension through the finish, too, admirable at 20 years of age from what would have been young vines at the time.

Naoko Dalla Valle may have chosen the harder route, heading up the winding road just east of the Oakville Cross to find her bit of land. But it proved to be the right one: Her estate is a reference point in Napa Valley, making ageworthy Cabernet blends infused with a distinctive, lightly rugged tug of red earth that sets them apart.

Lokoya’s Winemaking Mountain Man

Courtesy of Lokoya Winery

Lokoya winemaker Chris Carpenter manages “full-on tannin.”

Jackson Family Wines is known for its large-volume wine brands from California and beyond, none more than Kendall-Jackson. But there’s a coterie of small-production, highly focused wines beneath the company’s umbrella. Winemaker Chris Carpenter handles this group, headlined by Lokoya and Cardinale and including Mt. Brave and La Jota.

Carpenter, who stands a full 6’5″ and has well-worn winemaker’s hands, couldn’t be better cut from central casting for the role of mountain man winemaker. Carpenter took over at Lokoya and the other brands in 2001.

Lokoya, which debuted in the 1995 vintage, produces four wines, one each from Diamond Mountain District, Spring Mountain District, Howell Mountain and Mount Veeder, with the wines always 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. Total production is about 3,500 cases annually. “Lokoya is full-on tannin,” says Carpenter with his deep voice. “The wines are meant to provide the full expression of the place.”

“Full-on tannin” is putting it mildly. Lokoya’s wines are densely structured—rigid but integrated. Consequently, they seem unyielding at first, and they age slowly. But even at an early point in their lives, the cuvées show clear differences in terroir.

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain District has a chunky feel, with intense, sappy-textured cassis fruit at the core waiting to unwind.

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District is more succulent in feel, with cassis and raspberry compote notes and brambly grip.

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain sports everything I dig about this AVA’s wines: copious black and blue fruits that are explosive through the gravel-lined finish.

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder is the brightest of the four, leaning to kirsch and red licorice, with a very lively feel through the finish.

For the four wines, the winemaking is the same, except for the selection of barrels, with the élevages lasting 20 months in a high percentage of new oak. While new oak is a bugaboo for some, it clearly serves a role, especially when dealing with red wines as muscular and in need of bottle age as these.

As an example, Carpenter pours the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District. It seems to have barely moved: It’s still sporting a strong-willed bramble and currant paste–filled core, with a youthfully succulent feel that’s similar to the ’15. On closer inspection, the tannins have yielded ever so slightly, but the wine is still polished, lengthy and full of life, remarkably so.

Follow James Molesworth on Instagram at @jmolesworth1, and on Twitter at @jmolesworth1.

Senior editor James Molesworth will become Wine Spectator’s lead taster for California Cabernet Sauvignon at the end of this year. He recently made a trip to Napa Valley and has posted dispatches from some of the region’s top wineries. And don’t miss our Q&A with James on his Napa Cab eureka moments, his scoring philosophy, and what he’s up to when he’s not tasting wine.

All wines included in this report were tasted non-blind, at the properties in Napa. The wines are listed in the order of tasting.

Paying Homage at Robert Mondavi Winery

Courtesy of Robert Mondavi Winery

Founded in 1966, Robert Mondavi Winery stands tall in Napa Valley.

There’s another changing of the guard at Napa’s iconic pioneer, with longtime winemaker Geneviève Janssens taking a step back and Nova Cadamatre stepping up. But the directive here remains to “maintain classicism,” says Janssens.

And that classicism is on full display in the lineup of 2015 Robert Mondavi Napa Cabernets, from a warm and dry vintage.

“We got 18 inches of rain rather than 35,” she says as we taste through the wines. “But March was wet so the vines grew quickly to start. The May was warm and the fruit set not so great. We wound up with smaller berries, smaller bunches and a lighter crop. An early harvest heat spike shut the vines down and so the game was to wait for them to pick back up. In the end, we picked at 25 or 26 Brix, as we like fresh fruit flavors rather than jammy.”

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley shows a flash of mint, with sleek and restrained red currant fruit. The 2015 Cabernet Franc Oakville (with 20 percent Cabernet Sauvignon blended in) offers warm plum, cassis and tobacco notes with a strong, fleshy finish.

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville is sourced entirely from the famed To Kalon Vineyard, from parcels along the back of the vineyard at the base of the Mayacamas mountains, where the soils are sandier. It’s a juicy ball of cassis and blackberry fruit, with taut structure and a fine minerality carrying the finish.

Markedly different is the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District, from volcanic soils where the fog influence is higher. That results in a decidedly herbaceous (and very fresh), savory style that accentuates a red currant fruit flavor.

The big dog here remains the reserve bottling, which since 2011 is entirely from the To Kalon Vineyard. The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon To Kalon Vineyard Reserve contains 7 percent Cabernet Franc and 2 percent Petit Verdot, with the blend aged 18 months in 100 percent new French oak barrels. It delivers a pure beam of cassis and plum fruit, with long, refined structure and flashes of mint and violet. There’s a light graphite echo at the end of the very long finish.

Equally compelling, though, is the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville To Kalon Vineyard Reserve, a pure Cabernet bottling meant to “show another aspect of To Kalon” says Janssens. The wine is given a longer élevage of 30 months in barrel. Vivid cassis and blackberry fruit is carried by strident tannins, with a large swath of tobacco rolling through on the finish. There’s a tarry hint, and it’s decidedly grippy, but not at all bombastic.

“We want freshness and balance,” she stresses when I note how some of the wines are decidedly more powerful, comparatively. “If the wine is in a riper style, it is a function of the vintage and not a conscious decision of the winemaker.”

Old Heritage, New Blood at Heitz Cellar

Courtesy of Heitz Cellar

Heitz has been making a Trailside Vineyard cuvée for decades.

The Heitz family sold this legendary California winery to the Memphis, Tenn.–based Lawrence family, the family’s first winery acquisition. The Lawrences are keen on preserving tradition here, but they’re also infusing the property with new energy, and it starts with their 28-year-old new winemaker, Brittany Sherwood.

While the portfolio of wines is large, Cabernet is the name of the game here, as it comprises three-quarters of the more than 40,000-case annual production. Some vine parcels are being replanted, and there are new bottlings coming. Among them is the 2014 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Linda Falls, from a parcel on Howell Mountain. The 7-acre spot was planted in 2002 and had been going to the straight Napa bottling. But as it began to show its own character, it was pulled out as a single-vineyard cuvée, and replaces the Bella Oaks bottling, which was discontinued after 2007. It sees two years in tight-grained oak barrels, a difference from the wide-grained oak used on the other wines here.

“We planted that vineyard on Howell Mountain in 2002 and realized it had a lot of potential early on,” says Sherwood. “In 2013, we finally decided to try something a little different to see if we could bring it into its full potential. Because it is Howell mountain fruit, it needed some silky midpalate weight and something to just slightly soften its big mountain structure. Enter tight-grained oak, and boom! Linda Falls as a single-vineyard designate was born.”

The wine does deliver a juicier, more energetic profile than the rest of the lineup—not better, just different—with red currant, licorice and bramble notes that have a sappy intensity. It has Howell Mountain intensity, but also fits in with the overall house style here.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley adheres closer to the historical house style: focused, pure and streamlined, with supple edges to the red currant and cherry fruit and a dash of perfume through the finish. The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Trailside Vineyard is remarkably pure in feel, with nice drive to its red currant and damson plum fruit, with a long, finely-tuned, savory-flecked finish.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Martha’s Vineyard remains the flagship bottling. In this vintage it delivers a beam of cassis underscored with a minty note and carried by extremely fine-grained tannins. The bergamot and black tea perfume on the back end is beguiling.

After tasting through the 2013s here, there’s a purity that stands out for me. The wines are brighter and more detailed than previous vintages. Sherwood explains that it’s the result of a program to eliminate brettanomyces in the cellars, the spoilage yeast that in small doses can add aromatic elements that some people like, but is nonetheless a flaw. “Purity is the way you get a true sense of place,” says Sherwood.

Mayacamas: Rising Like a Phoenix

Jimmy Hayes

Mayacamas winery survived the 2017 wildfires, but a house on the property was lost.

The legend of Mayacamas Vineyards is in good hands with winemakers Braiden Albrecht and Andy Erickson.

The 2013 Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder is dark in profile, with lightly smoky black currant, blackberry and fig notes infused with a light licorice snap hint. It roils with depth and power and shows the quality that marks the vintage in general. “2013 is a great vintage for everyone here,” says Erickson. “But we were putting things together as we harvested. In 2014, I think we see what we want to do here; I really think we hit the target.”

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is packed with crushed currant fruit and laced liberally with sage, tobacco and mint, all backed by a light loamy echo. The finish is carried by warm stone, bramble and licorice notes. The wine sports that unabashed chewy mountain fruit profile without sacrificing purity or cut. As impressive as the ’13 is for its more overt and flattering profile, the 2014 has a sense of range and detail. And if that’s what Erickson meant by hitting the target, I’d agree.

Harlan Estate Plays the Long Game

Courtesy of Harlan Estate

Harlan Estate is built to last.

Debuting with the 1990 vintage, Harlan Estate is one of Napa Valley’s original “cult Cabernets.” But owner Bill Harlan and his longtime team are still looking forward, albeit with a generation of vintages under their belt. Vintages that produced overt, full-throttled wines such as 1997 have become benchmarks as much for what not to do as what to do. For winemaker Cory Empting, the focus now is on a style that exhibits some restraint, though that restraint is more a function of the vineyard’s maturity than the winemaker’s hand.

The 2014 Harlan Estate Napa Valley brims with crushed currant and plum fruit flavors. It’s richly layered with warm licorice and shows both grippy and plush aspects that are still coming together, though it’s a prodigious wine in the making.

The 2013 Harlan Estate shows a bit more energy, with briar, sage, currant paste and melted licorice notes, along with a tug of loamy earth, without sacrificing drive and cut. It’s a dense wine with remarkable detail. The 2012 Harlan Estate is juicy and still a bit compact, offering a range of red, blue and black fruit flavors studded with licorice snap, sweet spice, and tobacco along the way before the finish kicks in with a jolt of energy. For general manager Don Weaver, the pair is reminiscent of the 2009 and ’10 Bordeaux vintages, back-to-back superb years with the ‘09s very flattering and the ‘10s showing more classic structure and drive (in Harlan’s case, the 2012 is flattering, while it’s the 2013 that showcases a classic structure).

The 2011 Harlan Estate shows the vintage’s cooler edge, with a slight tilt toward sage and tobacco aspects, though the core of mixed berry fruit has ample density and flesh. There’s a light grain to the structure, from the impression of more acidity, though in reality it is a function of slightly lower alcohol than in warmer years. It’s in a beautiful place today, with plenty of life ahead of it. The 2010 Harlan Estate has a red fruit profile with currant and damson plum taking the lead. There are licorice and loam notes, but this is decidedly brighter overall, with a kick of kirsch on the energetic finish.

Un Peu de Changement at Eisele Vineyard

Courtesy of Eisele Vineyard

Eisele Vineyard remains in good hands.

This longtime Araujo Estate property is now under the care of Artémis Domaines, which also owns Bordeaux’s Château Latour. The accents have changed a bit and there are some tweaks going on in the vineyard and in the wine, but the soul of Eisele Vineyard remains very much intact.

In the winemaking, slight shifts include the elimination of high-toast barrels after the 2013 vintage, as well as temperature control in the barrel cellar. The wine is also blended earlier, mirroring Bordeaux timing (in the March following harvest) rather than waiting until just before bottling.

While the 2013 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley shows rich plum and blackberry compote notes wrapped in warm licorice, with a steeped feel through the finish, the 2014 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon shows a very expressive and markedly purer display of cassis, laced with light mineral, tobacco and warm stone notes. The licorice thread adds some tension as well, and the overall impression is very, very refined. There’s 1 percent Petit Verdot in this wine; every vintage since has been 100 Cabernet Sauvignon.

The 2015 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a stunner, combining the refinement of the ’14 with the showy fruit of the ’13, marrying plum, cassis and raspberry notes, bursting from the glass while light sage brush and loam notes underscore the finish. It’s tightly focused, with a lingering mineral echo wonderfully offsetting the fruit.

The 2016 Cabernet had just been bottled, and while winemaker Hélène Mingot was reluctant to show it, it displays a tight frame of singed alder around racy plum and cassis notes. It has energy and brightness, but has yet to reassemble itself following bottling (not a cause for concern). The 2017 Cabernet sits in barrel, but it has the makings of a special wine as well, with a tightly focused and unadulterated beam of cassis flanked by floral and licorice notes. It’s very fine-grained, and very long through the finish.

Randy Dunn’s Howell Mountain Legacy

Courtesy of Dunn Vineyards

The Dunn family has been farming their mountain-top vineyard for nearly 40 years.

One of Napa Valley’s favorite contrarians, winemaker Randy Dunn is (mostly) handing the reins to the next generation, with a third waiting in the wings. His stepson Mike has taken on increasing responsibilities since joining the winery in 1999, and today Randy decides when to pick, and Mike handles the rest.

The 2013 Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is packed with cassis and plum sauce flavors that are extremely vivid, with anise, apple wood, licorice snap, tar and blackberry paste notes layered in. A light charcoal hint peeks in on the finish adding textural contrast and additional length. This is a superb young wine. The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain offers more distinct sage, tobacco and bay notes up front, a slightly suppler feel to its mix of mulled currant and raspberry fruit with streaks of black tea and apple wood on the finish. The just-bottled 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain combines the best of both the previous vintages, marrying mint and sage with zesty loganberry and black currant fruit flavors, all backed by mouthwatering anise and bramble notes. The apple wood edge zips up the finish in this very defined yet youthfully very, very tight wine.

Bart Araujo Earns an ‘A’ with Accendo Cellars

Jimmy Hayes

All of the vineyards for the Accendo wines are certified organic.

After decades stewarding Napa’s Eisele Vineyard, the Araujo family has a new winery, and a new philosophy toward Cabernet. And they’ve brought their longtime winemaking team along with them, the duo of Françoise Peschon and Nigel Kinsman.

The 2014 Accendo Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is 100 percent Cabernet. It cuts a broad swath of cassis and loam, with a sense of polish, but it keeps a light tug of earth too, while notes of mocha and tobacco flow in on the finish. The 2015 Accendo includes 4 percent each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, keeping Cabernet Sauvignon in the driver’s seat so that the wine remains cut from the same cloth, texturally, with broad and lush layers of cassis and blackberry fruit that are a shade darker, riper and more vivid than the 2014’s. The extra varieties add intrigue, with a more prominent tobacco edge (from the Cabernet Franc) along with a bright violet note (the aromatic side of Petit Verdot). There’s a long, loamy echo too, perhaps from the addition of a fourth vineyard in this vintage (the Araujo family’s biodynamically farmed Rancho Pequeño, located on the eastern side of the valley and featuring, not surprisingly, alluvial loam soil).

The 2016 Accendo was set to be bottled in a few days when I visited. It pulls together 15 percent Cabernet Franc and 3.5 percent Petit Verdot, with the rest Cabernet, from the same four vineyard sources as the 2015. It’s yet another step forward for the wine, showing greater energy, with a light briar thread adding range to the plum, raspberry and blackberry compote notes. The texture is again lush but not heavy, with detail coming from light anise, mocha and spice notes that flicker in and out. The long finish shows some drive thanks to a graphite edge.

“Typically we prefer 90 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. But when we put this blend together, we just loved it,” says Bart Araujo. “We just let the wine dictate itself.”

92 Years Young, with Cabernets that Stand the Test of Time

Melissa Barnes

Philip Togni has more than 65 vintages under his belt.

On Napa’s Spring Mountain, Philip Togni’s Bordeaux-style blends are aging nearly as gracefully as he is—and he set up a vertical tasting going back more than 20 years to prove it.

Tasting two lots of 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon from barrel, the free-run juice shows intense bay and sage notes, among the hallmarks of the wine, backed by juicy plum fruit and a brambly edge. The press wine from the same lot shows tighter focus, with even juicier fruit, relying less on herbaceous notes while more rigid and energetic tannins show their mettle.

The 2015 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Tanbark Hill Vineyard is the second wine of the estate, a nearly all–Cabernet Sauvignon bottling sourced from two parcels located where a part of the slope bottoms out. Its deeper soils result in a more fruit-forward style, and the wine pumps out red currant, plum and licorice notes with savory highlights on the finish. The 2015 Togni Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley has a similar fruit profile of red currant and plum, but it’s a notable step up in range and depth, with terrific drive and grip.

The 2014 Togni Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is a touch suppler in feel, with a warm feel to its core of cassis and plum reduction notes. It seems a bit more sedate but no less lengthy or deep. The 2013 Togni Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is cut from the same mold as the ’15, with vibrant and intense cassis, plum sauce and melted licorice notes liberally infused with bay, sage and sweet tobacco notes. The finish is dense but juicy, inlaid wonderfully with an echo of juniper.

From there we jump to the 2001 Togni Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, where mint and sage notes proudly lead off, giving way to a core of warm, mulled plum, fig and currant fruit. Lighter bay and savory notes thread through the finish, which is long and refined, ending with gorgeous echoes of juniper and warm fig.

The 1997 Togni Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley advances the development further, as it has gained cedar and sanguine notes to go with its panoply of mulled plum and cherry fruit, mineral, dark tea, sage and juniper flavors. “In today’s society, it’s difficult to convince people to age the wine,” says Togni after a sip of the ’97. “But the benefits are there,” he adds, nodding gently toward his glass.

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