Dark and thick in appearance, this estate blend from winemaker Adam Henkel and proprietor Roger Bower shows a tremendous cassis aroma, with splashes of smoke, dried purple flowers and baking spice. The palate begins with a lavish entry of polished tannins that still have some teeth, providing tension that carries the dark fruit flavors deep into the finish.

A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller portions of Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot, the 2015 Estate Selection, from a low-yielding, concentrated vintage, is drinking beautifully now but still has plenty of life ahead. Medium ruby-purple in color, it has pure scents of blackcurrants with touches of violet, cigars and graphite. The full-bodied palate is seamless and detailed, with a flourish of savory accents and fantastic layering and length. - Erin Brooks

the deep, inky colored 2015 Estate Selection is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% each of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec, and the rest Merlot, aged 26 months in new French oak. This beauty boasts a fabulous bouquet of blackcurrants, melted licorice, cigar wrapper, and tobacco leaf, with more spice and dried flower notes coming through with time in the glass. Deep, rich, full-bodied, and elegant, with beautiful purity as well as ripe tannin, it certainly has the class to drink nicely today, yet will be even better with 2-3 years of bottle age and keep for two decades.

You can’t fault this powerful, cabernet-based red for lack of intensity, because the blackcurrant and forest-berry aromas blast out of the glass, and on the palate it packs a big punch of fruit and rather fine dry tannins. There’s also fresh acidity that stops this from coming off heavy and drives the intense finish. Try to wait until at least 2021.