The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Benchland Select is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, with 65% of the fruit coming from Vine Hill Ranch. It was aged 22 months in French oak, 61% new. Very deep garnet-purple colored, the nose features very dark, serious, broody fruit notions of blackcurrant cordial, boysenberries and mulberries with nuances of cigar box, fungi, fertile loam and pencil lead plus a touch of tar. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a wonderfully plush texture with beautifully integrated freshness and a generous black-fruit core, finishing long with some spicy layers coming through. (LPB) 95+

Julianne Laks blends this wine from two western benchland sites, one in Rutherford, the other in Oakville. Its time in French oak barrels, most of them new, shows in the rich notes of espresso-roast coffee that dominate the wine for its first two days open. But the wine’s silken elegance begins to win out with air, its firm structure showing more clearly. The flavors will open with decanting and wood-fired grilled meats.

There’s plenty of toasty, spicy oak on the nose here with crushed violets and ripe dark fruit. The palate follows suit with roasted coffee threaded through sweetly ripe dark-berry flavors. Good length. Let it settle some more and try from 2020.