Wine & Spirits - December 2017 - 61

YEAR'S BEST US CABERNET & BLENDS
Valley and a darker black-raspberry note.
There's a forest-green aspect, close to strawberry leaf, that shows its youthfulness, while
the tannins have a soft, loamy texture, suggesting this is a cabernet to drink now. (W&S
4/17; 1,149 cases)
449548

90 | Heitz

$235

2012 Oakville Napa Valley Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ^ Grown at the
May family's vineyard in the western benchlands of Oakville, this cabernet is always a
late release from Heitz. In 2012, it has the
powerful richness of an Oakville cabernet,
with some mushroom notes that show its
maturity. Heady and warm, it's a wine for
braised lamb. (W&S 10/17; 4,665 cases)

508565

90 | Hess Collection

90 | Lobo

$64

90 | Miner

$50

2014 Napa Valley Wulff Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon ^ Victoria Coleman makes the
cabernet wines at Lobo, using the Wulff family's Oak Knoll vineyard for this wine. It's a
lean, savory, black-fruited cabernet with
freshness and clean lines, chewy cherry-skin
tannins firming up the dark cherry flavors.
(175 cases)
508410
2014 Napa Valley Emily's Cabernet Sauvignon ^ A tightly built, honest Napa Valley cabernet, this is a blend from four vineyards-
Stagecoach, Buselli, Miner and Schein. It's
mostly cabernets sauvignon (76 percent)
and franc (19 percent), with a little merlot.
Black fruited and intense, with bitter-chocolate tannins adding to the richness, this is
balanced, if not long or detailed in its flavors.
(2,744 cases)

448346
$32

2015 Napa Valley Allomi Cabernet Sauvignon (Best Buy) ^ Dark and rooty at first,
this shifts toward more delicate notes of cherries and deeper blueberry flavors as it opens
with air. It still carries some vegetal tones in
the tannins, like the skin of roasted eggplant.
Pour it with lamb kebabs and ratatouille.

90 | Mossback

$25

2014 Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvignon (Best
Buy) ^ Floral and soft, this feels as much like
merlot as cabernet, but its fruit is fresh and
appealing, with the juicy spice of wild blueberries and a subtle sweetness from oak. It's
not a mineral-inflected cabernet to age, but
rather a charming one to enjoy over the next
few years with rare lamb chops. -L.S. (W&S
6/17; 3,700 cases)
449254

90 | Mount Veeder

$44

2014 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ^ A
clean, foursquare cabernet, this shows its
future development in the length and juiciness of its fruit tannins. For now, the wine
is sitting in its oak, sappy and smoky in its
extract. Built to cellar. (W&S 6/17)
508185

90 | Nickel & Nickel

508434

90 | Kirkland Signature

$22

2015 Stag's Leap District Napa Valley Signature Series Cabernet Sauvignon (Best
Buy) ^ Here's a steal: a luxuriously textured
Stags Leap District cabernet for one-tenth
the price of some of its neighbors. Sure,
there's some greenness in the tannins, some
gaminess in the fruit, but overall it's a clean
wine delivering its dark cherry and rich tannins with gentleness. (1,500 cases)
508503

$115

2014 Oakville Napa Valley John C. Sullenger Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ^
From a vineyard on the east side of Highway
29, this grows at the edge of an alluvial fan
that spreads east from the benchlands at the
base of the Mayacamas Mountains. It produced a 2014 cabernet that's both lush and
herbal, fragrant with green, crunchy, savory
herbs even as it's rich and supple. Decant a
bottle for roast lamb. (W&S 10/17)
447533

90 | Raymond

$85

90 | Ridge

$60

90 | St. Francis

$52

90 | St. Francis

$22

90 | Straphanger

$13

90 | Summers

$45

2013 Rutherford Napa Valley District Collection Cabernet Sauvignon ^ You can smell
the pungency of this wine's mineral tannins
before you taste it. And they deliver on
the promise, running wild with brisk, edgy
power. It's firm and intense, with a pinesap
note; this needs time in the bottle to settle.
(W&S 4/17; 750 cases)
508075
2014 Santa Cruz Mountains Estate Monte
Bello Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ^ This
vintage of Ridge's "second wine" from the
Monte Bello estate is ripe and hearty, with
the spicy snap of cherry skin and a hint of
warmth from a sunny season. At first enveloped by the toasted-coconut scent of new
American oak, it turns toward darker tones
of black olive and mesquite, the oak and
fruit tannins melting together and softening. Decant it for a New York strip. -L.S.
(W&S 10/17)
508578
2013 Alexander Valley Reserve Cabernet
Sauvignon ^ Silky and delicate, this wine's
dill and red raspberry flavors fill a light and
airy structure. The tannins are firm, with
some tobacco burn to them, but overall the
wine feels brisk and fresh, an easy-drinking,
approachable cabernet. (890 cases)
508579
2014 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon (Best Buy) ^ A rich cabernet with blackfruit gentleness, this feels integrated even if
it's big and firmed up by smoky oak. Soft,
cushioned and round, it's ready for seared
filet mignon.
508396
2015 Paso Robles 2nd Edition Cabernet
Sauvignon (Best Buy) ^ This gets kudos for
its fresh red-cherry flavor, the kind of softtextured cabernet that would be delicious
with beef tenderloin. It's hard to find a California cabernet this clean and well made for
$13. Tom Meyers makes this wine for Pacific
Edge, Luneau USA's project in Paso Robles.
(4,000 cases)
508505
2014 Napa Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ^ This muscular cabernet emphasizes
its tough tannins at first, black and smoky
before yielding its fruit from underneath.
Tart blackberry flavors emerge, along with
notes of mint, adding a hint of sweetness
to combine with the tannic bitterness and

WINE & SPIRITS

DECEMBER 2017

https://www.hesscollection.com/wine/napa-valley-allomi-cabernet-sauvignon/ http://www.matchbookwinestore.com/?method=storeproducts.showdrilldown&productid=D6397ABB-5619-4A61-9FD0-52A6A6124C5F&ProductCategoryID=53ED604C-EF52-B208-3A81-A37D26BADFD4&WineryID=1fa9ba22-bfce-8218-f2ad-c1e8b5afa7cb&WineTypeID=&ProductType=&wineVarietalID=&wineRegionID=&vintage=&lowprice=&highPrice=&WineBrandID=&WineAppellationID=&lowletter=&highletter=&OrderBy=PXPC.DisplayOrder%2520Asc%2C%2520P.ProductName%2520ASC&ShippingState=CA http://www.dcflyntmw.com/kirkland-signature-stags-leap-cabernet-sauvignon

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - December 2017