The 2020 NVD Cabernet Sauvignon offers up cedary aromas and notes of red berries and cherries. It's medium-bodied and rather open-knit on the palate, maybe even a touch coarse in texture, with a touch of astringency on the finish. I didn't pick up any evidence of smoke taint, but it's clearly not as strong an effort as the forthcoming 2021. (JC)

The 2020 Arkenstone NVD Cabernet Sauvignon is deep garnet-purple in color. It sails out of the glass with fantastically spicy notes, over a core of plum preserves, blueberry compote, and dark chocolate, with wafts of garrigue and redcurrant jelly. The medium to full-bodied palate is packed with black fruit preserves, with an exotic spicy undercurrent and chewy tannins, leading to an earthy finish. Only fruit picked between the 18th and 25th September, before the Glass fire, was used. This gave about a third of the normal production level. (LPB)