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!

(96+ points) The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is still very, very young. No surprise there. I admire the wine's density, power and structure. Black fruit, leather, gravel, incense, tobacco and scorched earth add to an impression of notable gravitas. Time in the glass releases notable mid-palate pliancy. This was the second vintage made by the new team headed by winemaker Braiden Albrecht. I loved this on release, and I love it today. The 2014 is approachable with some decanting, but ideally, it still needs time in the bottle. -- Antonio Galloni

Mouthwatering from start to finish, this offers terrific cut and tension as sweet bay, chaparral and pine forest notes leap to the fore, followed quickly by vibrant red and black currant fruit. Black tea, sage, iron and sanguine accents weave through the finish, which is still tightly coiled even at this stage. Evolving slowly and beautifully. -- Blind 2014 California Cabernet retrospective (June 2024). Drink now through 2042. - JM

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)