2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

A regal, supremely, elegant wine, the 2012 is developing at a snail's pace. Readers lucky enough to own it should be thrilled. What a gem. Dark, seamless and quite structured at the same time, the 2012 is endowed with tremendous fruit purity and exceptional balance. Graphite, lavender and dried herbs are immediately alluring. The 2012 is just starting to open in its aromatics, but it remains a very young wine. It lacks perhaps just that extra kick of intensity found in the very best years, but it comes very close. It is one of the very finest wines in this vintage and is truly viscerally thrilling.

A rich and vibrant red with a firm backbone of tannins and agile, taunt form that goes against the full-throttle style. Full, structured and serious. Give this three to four years to soften. Mountain cab muscle.

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon is stunningly beautiful, especially in the way it brings together intense, voluptuous fruit and structure. Racy and polished in the glass, the 2012 races across the palate with intense dark red stone fruit, spice, cedar, tobacco and floral notes, all in an energetic, vibrant style that suggests 25-30 years of aging will be a breeze. What a gorgeous wine this is.