Grapes for Steve Matthiasson's Napa Cabernet come from Phoenix Vineyard, an east-facing steep hillside at the base of Mt. Veeder, on a bluff of royally unique ancient marine shale soils overlooking the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley. Additional fruit is sourced from long-term lease contracts farmed by Matthiasson in Coombsville, Oak Knoll, and Rutherford (two sites), one on Mount Veeder and one in Calistoga (in the Franz Valley). There are no additions beyond sulfites. Compact and energetic with super-savoury notes of black olives, sagebrush and dried tobacco, crunchy red currant fruit, and expressive graphite. A firm spine of mouthwatering acidity imbues the wine with serious staying power. In their youth, these wines will not give you much at the pull of the cork but wait six hours or a day or two days even, and oxygen works at them to reveal the effects of ageing as the wine becomes suddenly more open-knit and generous. So, give them 20-30 years, and the fireworks will go off. If you're a collector, stash these away and don't touch them for two decades. For everyone else, decanting is a must, and patience will be rewarded.