Aromas of blackcurrant, mushroom, wet earth and bark follow through to a full body, chewy tannins and a stone, berry, chili and spice aftertaste. Muscular and chunky. Very serious. Almost no new oak. This shows the Mayacamas DNA. October 2018 release.

An incredible wine that reminds me of a great vintage of Lafite, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is a step up over the 2012, with more depth, richness, and elegance as well as texture. Stunning notes of red and blackcurrants, lead pencil shavings, cigar tobacco, and cedar all emerge from this incredibly elegant, ethereal, yet layered 2014 that has present yet polished tannin, impeccable balance, and sensational purity of fruit. It certainly offers pleasure today (more than the 2012) yet will benefit from 5-7 years of bottle age and keep for 2-3 decades. It’s a brilliant, classic, old-school styled Napa Cabernet done perfectly!

This packs in a lot of juicy black currant and blackberry paste notes, with lively licorice snap and bramble accents filling the available space. A roasted apple wood accent lends a mouthwatering edge while a tarry echo at the very end adds range and length. Should cruise in the cellar. Best from 2020 through 2045. — J.M.

After transitioning from Bob Travers’s long reign at this 465-acre mountain estate, Mayacamas comes to its 125th vintage under the organic viticultural practices of Phil Coturri and the winemaking skills of Andy Erickson. They continue to present the wine as a muscular, youthfully impenetrable cabernet, harvested on the early side of ripeness, requiring long development in the cellar. It’s built like a marathon runner, austere in the power of its mountain-grown tannins, formidable in its foresty red-berry fruit. Dense, tight and herbal, it needs ten to 20 years to fully reveal itself. (W&S 6/19)