Lots of ripe but not overripe cabernet character with blackcurrant compote, morello cherries, vanilla, spices and dust. Fresh black fruit on the palate with a pretty acid and tannin backbone. Minerally finish. Drink now or hold.

Notes of crème de cassis, toasted spice, and sweet licorice all emerge from the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate, which is based on 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petit Verdot. Sweetly fruited, upfront, charming and decadently styled, with ripe tannin and moderate concentration, it’s ideal for drinking anytime over the coming decade.

This has matured a touch faster than its colleagues in this tasting, showing gently mulled black currant and cherry fruit laced with warm loam, singed cedar and tobacco leaf notes that slowly take the upper hand through the finish. More subdued in energy, but still has life; time to drink, though. -- Blind 2015 California Cabernet retrospective (July 2025). Drink now through 2031. - JM