2014 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard Cuvée Elevage

Over the past few years, the wine has started filling out, adding more flesh and fruit. Along the wine, the has also taken on additional polish to the tannins and nuances of smoke, earth, dark red fruits and forest leaf notes. You can already enjoy this beauty now, while waiting for the bigger, more powerful 2015 and 2016 to develop. 94 Points

Intensely scented dried flowers on the nose in the rose to lilac spectrum. Raspberry and blackberry undertones. Rose perfumes. It\'s full-bodied, yet everything\'s in finesse. Superfine tannins coat your palate and give you incredible length, and it all last for minutes on the palate. Great resonance. Not the power of 2013 but intellect and persistence prevails here. A joy to taste now, but this will improve for decades ahead.

The wines from the extremely hot drought year, 2014, were just bottled prior to my visit. The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon reflects the vintage’s precociousness and front-end loaded, flattering style. It is medium to full-bodied, shows beautiful fruit purity, deep black raspberry and blackcurrant fruit, moving toward blacker berries. There is a floral characteristic, spice, and a full-bodied, lush mouthfeel with silky tannin. Drink it over the next 25 years.