This year’s Matriarch is very similar to Harlan Estate in structure, and in some ways, a superior wine, or at least more delicious now. Shows the most beautiful black currant, cedar, blueberry pie and Asian spice flavors. What makes the structure so gorgeous are the firm tannins. Ultimately, it’s a refined, exquisite red wine. Hard to imagine a better one for drinking over the next decade, and just shows that price sometimes has no relationship to quality.

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Matriarch is the closest to full maturity of any of these wines. It still has another 12-15 years of life left in it. It is very fragrant, with sweet black cherry and mulberry notes, dense dark cherries and a full-bodied, gorgeous texture. This is a rather extravagantly concentrated, beautifully round wine, with notes of unsmoked cigar tobacco, cassis and a deep, full-bodied, luscious mouthfeel. Very drinkable, it can continue to be drunk over the next 10-15+ years. - Robert M. Parker, Jr.