97 POINTS - #77 2010 Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon

"We try to be really conservative and honest with the wine evaluations we go through. We give many scores under 90, just today a somewhat sad 88 for a wine with great intentions. Your 2010 No 77 is out of this world. It gets pretty close to perfection here, the sommelier panel could not stop raving. Unbelievable how refined and brilliant this wine shows now."

-Jörn Kleinhans, CSW

This is a spellbindingly complex and balanced Cabernet Sauvignon. It is powerful—not with alcoholic heat and body—but a bounty of aromas and flavors. The first impressions on the nose are cherry, cassis, dried tobacco leaf, and oak spice. On the palate, the fruit is the same with a dense herbal bouquet, wrapped in vigorous menthol and a hint of bitter espresso. The finish was notably fruit-driven, with chewy tannins and volcanic flavors.

The wine was immediately accessible and took little time to become very complex. It persisted in steady development over several hours. Pepper, beeswax, violet, orange blossom and more aromas and flavors filled the spaces between rich fruit and sophisticated oak. Throughout, the wine remained polished, plush, light on its feet, symphonic and precise. It seems fully mature in 2016, but may yet improve with age.