This is a dark and drawing red with iron, rust, sand and blackberry aromas. Full-bodied, extremely deep and dense with incredible intensity and depth. Masses of violets and berries. It goes on for minutes. Superb 2015. Best ever? Release in September 2019. Drink on release and beyond.

Lastly, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon The Lark is another tour de force in Napa Valley Cabernet! More plump, rounded and sexy than the Solari release, it boasts heavenly notes of blackcurrants, chocolate, espresso roast and dried flowers. With a seamless, full-bodied, plush, even sexy, style, no hard edges, and sweet tannin, drink this beauty anytime over the coming two decades or more.

2015 was a brutally hot drought year with more than 20 days over 100°F, including during harvest. It has produced both stunning, voluptuous wines and not so good ones from sunburned grapes. At Larkmead, yields were down about 20% and the style of The Lark took another leap to more complexity, finer tannins and a longer finish. The aromas are more perfumed with violets and cassis, while the flavours are deeper, purer and more red-toned, with a distinctive briary and mineral element that’s rustic in a good way. The structure is more linear and refined.

Displaying a deep purple-black color, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon The Lark offers a fragrant cassis, crushed cherries and blueberries-scented nose with touches of menthol, chocolate box, char-grilled meat, earth and violets. Rich and concentrated on the medium to full-bodied palate, with firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, it finishes long with a minty lift.- LPB

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon The Lark is showing beautifully today. Linear and powerful, the 2015 Is going to need time to be at its best. Next to the other wines in this range, the Lark is unusually reserved. Floral and lifted, with terrific purity and plenty of structure, the 2015 needs time to be at its very best. The Lark emerges from some of the sandier soils at Larkmead. -- Antonio Galloni

Winemaker Dan Petroski coaxed small yields to make this 100% varietal wine from a warm drought-year vintage marked by concentration and scarcity. Densely spicy, leathery and tobacco-laden, with quiet, dusty black fruit, this structured red is abundant in cocoa powder and crushed rock elements. This wine is worth cellaring; enjoy best 2025–2030. VIRGINIE BOONE

Mulled spice, singed vanilla and lightly steeped raspberry and boysenberry fruit weave together, picking up light anise and black tea accents along the way. The finish is rounded in feel, but also persistent, letting the fruit and spice take a stylish encore. Best from 2020 through 2030. 237 cases made. — JM