Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 45

YEAR'S BEST US CABERNETS & BLENDS
518628

90 | Markham

517713
$70

2014 Napa Valley The Philanthropist
Yountville Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ^ This wine's plum and tart strawberry
flavors coast on tannins polished to the texture of filet mignon, the fruit holding fresh
within the oak frame. (886 cases) -J.G.
518136

90 | Matthiasson

$65

2016 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ^
Black-currant cabernet flavors suffuse this
wine. It's soft and cushioned by black tannins when first poured. Then, those tannins
take over the wine, shutting it down for now.
Tuck this away in the cellar for a few years,
and all that currant fruit should come forward. (W&S 10/19; 1,603 cases) -J.G.
518192

90 | Priest Ranch

$100

2016 Napa Valley Snake Oil Cabernet Sauvignon ^ Part of the Somerston Estate in the
eastern hills of Napa Valley, Priest Ranch was
cofounded by Craig Becker, who makes these
wines from estate-grown fruit. This cabernet is tangy and bright, with scents of roses,
tobacco and dill. Its flavors would merge with
roasted piquillo peppers and slices of cured
chorizo. (100 cases) -J.G.
515039

90 | Raymond

$30

2016 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
(Best Buy) ^ Cool and clean, this is a rich
young cabernet that's more gracious and
sophisticated than its price would suggest.
It's saturated with juicy cherry and red-plum
flavors, its tannins firm and zesty. Buy it by
the case. -J.G.
518402

89 | Silver Ghost

$85

2016 Napa Valley Lyndenhurst Cabernet
Sauvignon ^ Aron Weinkauf blends this wine
from both estate-grown and purchased fruit,
mostly from St. Helena, with a contribution
from Atlas Peak. The tannins lend allspice
and mixed peppercorn notes to the wine's
warm black-currant flavors, creating a gentle
cabernet. There's some crunchy red fruit in
the middle that may lengthen out with bottle
age. For now, the wine's lean tannins need
meat. (W&S 10/19; 1,826 cases) -J.G.
516441

90 | Stags' Leap Winery

$100

2016 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ^
There's black raspberry fruit to balance this
wine's brisk green edges, turning toward
richer, creamier tones of chocolate and coffee with air. It's a generous cabernet for duck
roasted with cherries. (W&S 6/19) -J.G.

$35

2017 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
(Best Buy) ^ Weston Eidson, a Texan making
wine in Napa Valley, blends this cabernet
from three vineyards, one on the east side
of Rutherford, one in the hills above Calistoga and a third in western Yountville. It's
rich, with lovely gentleness; the only thing
that gives a clue to the affordable price is the
grape-must simplicity of the flavor. Decant it
for roast lamb. -J.G.

wine, delivering rose scents in the midst of its
power, this is built to last. (W&S 4/19; 525
cases) -J.G.
518677

92 | Acumen

$175

2017 Atlas Peak Napa Valley Peak Edcora
Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ^ Henrik
Poulsen selects this wine from the 84-acre,
southwest-facing Edcora Vineyard on Eric
Yuan's Atlas Peak estate. Garrett Buckland
farms those vines organically, producing
a 2017 with scents of roses and the tannic
bristle of plum skins. Those tannins have a
green edge, their herbal smokiness sustaining tension in the blueberry and dark plum
flavors. A savory, mountain-grown cabernet,
this needs time in a decanter or several years
in the cellar before serving with braised lamb.
(100 cases) -J.G.
518526

92 | Antica

$70

$60

2016 Atlas Peak Napa Valley Mountain
Select Cabernet Sauvignon ^ The Antinori
family had been partners in this project
when they purchased the estate in 1993, now
1,200 acres on Atlas Peak, with 600 planted
to vines. They farm cabernet at the property's highest elevations (1,800 feet), where the
cool nights sustain freshness in the fruit. In
2016, this wine ripened to generous, savory
depths of flavor, sustaining that coolness in
tart cherry notes and generous, black-mushroom flavors in the tannins. Decant it for
bistecca alla fiorentina. (2,700 cases) -J.G.
518680

2016 Napa Valley Dragon's Tooth ^ A blend
of malbec (47 percent), along with petit verdot, cabernet sauvignon and a little merlot,
this is supple and generous without excess
weight. Given time in a decanter, the wine
sheds its initial reduction and the flavors
clean up to a simple note of black grapes,
chocolate almonds and mint. For braised
lamb. (W&S 6/19) -J.G.

2017 Atlas Peak Napa Valley Peak Cabernet Sauvignon ^ Like Acumen's Peak Cabernet of 2016, this is a powerfully tannic, mineral-driven, mountain-grown wine. In 2017,
there's some volatility to the purple juice that
fills the structure, more vegetal than fruity,
needing age to mellow and for the fruit to
emerge. (200 cases) -J.G.

ATLAS PEAK

D I A M O N D M O U N TA I N

$45

2016 Napa Valley Reserve Selection Cabernet Sauvignon ^ This is the kind of simple,
clearly stated varietal cabernet that's rare
today in Napa Valley. It's not ambitious or
aggressively extracted, just firmly defined
in its juicy tannins and red-currant undertones. Smoke, coffee and cherry-compote flavors emerge with air, though the best thing
about the wine remains its silky texture.
(W&S 2/19) -J.G.
518280

90 | Rutherford Ranch

90 | Spottswoode

516386

90 | Trefethen

515736

93 | Acumen

91 | Acumen

$150

518496
$150

2016 Atlas Peak Peak Cabernet Sauvignon ^
After seven years at Alpha Omega, Henrik
Poulsen joined Denis Malbec on this project
in 2013. Acumen focuses on two organically
farmed vineyards, 116 acres in all, that Malbec and viticulturist Garrett Buckland helped
founder Eric Yuan locate when he was looking to establish a winery in Napa Valley. This
is the first vintage Poulsen made on his own,
a powerful mountain wine, with black fruit
that completely fills the mineral-driven tannins, even as the austere structure holds it
tight, without any trace of harshness. A grand

94 | von Strasser

$150

2016 Diamond Mountain District Napa
Valley Reserve ^ Rudy von Strasser, who
trained in Pauillac at Château Lafite-Rothschild before exploring Diamond Mountain,
was fascinated by how petit verdot ripened
on the hillside of volcanic ash that grounded
his estate vineyard. In Bordeaux, the variety
is used in small amounts to boost tannins
and color. On Diamond Mountain, von Strasser used it to build his Reserve: petit verdot
and cabernet sauvignon each account for 40
percent of the blend, with merlot and malbec
providing the balance. Since he sold the vineWINE & SPIRITS

DECEMBER 2019

45


http://www.trefethen.com/Our-Wines/Signature-Wines/2017-Dragons-Tooth

Wine & Spirits - December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - December 2019

Contents
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - Cover1
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - Cover2
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 1
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 2
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 3
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 4
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - Contents
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 6
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 7
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 8
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 9
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 10
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 11
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 12
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 13
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Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 15
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 16
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 17
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 18
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 19
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 20
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 21
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Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 25
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Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 27
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 28
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 29
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 30
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Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 40
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 41
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Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 45
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 46
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 47
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Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 49
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 50
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Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 95
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - 96
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - Cover3
Wine & Spirits - December 2019 - Cover4
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2023winter
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