The most limited production offering, the opaque purple-hued 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain displays classic, Bordeaux-like characteristics of cedarwood, tobacco leaf, creme de cassis, licorice, and spice box along with a note of minerality all presented in an elegant, powerful, full-bodied style with sweet tannins. Representing elegance and terroir allied with considerable power and purity, this offering is made from a vineyard planted in the mid-1970s. While approachable, it will be even better in 5-6 years, and should still be going strong at age 25-30.

Extraordinary wines produced by Jackson Family from three mountain vineyards. Big, intense but beautifully balanced.

The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain, which comes from the Wallis vineyard, shows terrific fruit intensity, oodles of creme de cassis, incense, a touch of white chocolate and coffee bean, cinnamon and clove-like spices, sensational blackberry and black currant fruit with some licorice and subtle background smoky oak. This beauty has wonderfully integrated sweet tannin and its opulence and lushness suggest drinking over the next 10-15 years.

Possesses a more floral / crème de cassis personality with licorice, chocolate, and earth characteristics. This powerful, concentrated 2002 is a classic mountain Cabernet Sauvignon with singular style. The tannins are firm, but sweet.

There are 393 cases of the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain. Scents of bay leaves, lavender, blackberries and crushed rocks are in this steely, firm Cabernet. It boasts huge body along with hard, noticeable tannin, and a broodingly backward, muscular personality. The tannin is elevated, but so is the wine's extraordinary richness and intensity. It is a classic mountain Cabernet Sauvignon that requires 7-10 years of cellaring. It should keep for 2-3 decades.

The 2015 Legacy Red is laced with sweet red berry, mint, pomegranate and spice notes. What stands out most is the wine’s freshness, especially in 2015, a year in which so many wines are blowsy. Picking early and focusing on the higher elevation portions of the vineyard were a huge help. The 2015 is gorgeous and refined from start to finish. This is an impressive showing.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2015 Proprietary Red Wine is a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec. Deep garnet-purple colored, it reveals vibrant cassis, plum preserves, blackberry pie and chocolate-covered black cherries with touches of licorice, tilled soil and cigar box. Full-bodied, rich and concentrated, it has a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing very long with a compelling perfume coming through.

The 2016 Chardonnay is bright, focused and energetic, with tons of citrus peel, white flower and crushed rock character. This is an especially fine, chiseled wine from Legacy, and also a more than worthy follow up to the 2015 and 2014.

The 2015 Chardonnay shows the natural intensity of the year in its voluptuous, tropical personality. Pineapple, mint, orange peel, smoke and apricot infuse this racy, powerful Chardonnay. Oily and viscous on the palate, with tremendous textural depth and tons of sheer appeal, the 2015 has a lot to offer.

The 2015 La Jota Merlot was aged in 72% new French oak for 22 months before bottling. Legendary winemaker, Chris Carpenter, has blended in 10% Petit Verdot to this Merlot. The nose shows very pretty tones with red cherry, lavender, with toasty oak and black raspberry cordial. The palate shows a brilliant minerality and seriously good weight, invoking black tea, milk chocolate, black cherry pie and lighter tones of sage. This is downright delicious now but really needs two more years to fully come together.

Deep garnet-purple, the 2015 W.S. Keyes—composed of 84.5% Merlot and 15.5% Cabernet Sauvignon—is profoundly scented of baked blackberries, warm plums and cherry pie with touches of hoisin, menthol and chocolate box. Full-bodied, rich, concentrated and totally seductive, it fills the mouth with generous black fruit preserves and exotic spice layers, framed by velvety tannins and finishing on a lingering minty note.

The La Jota and W.S. Keyes vineyards are the sources for this classically styled wine that is intense and alive in minerality. Clove, black pepper and mountains of dried herb are front and center between firm, dusty tannin and oak. The texture is plush and velvety on the palate, with plenty of length on the finish.

Another Brilliant mountain wine made by Chris Carpenter; lush and juicy with firm structure and generous plum and berry fruit; deep and elegant with intense flavors and excellent balance; lovely, complex and long.

An absolutely spectacular Merlot is the 2013 Merlot W.S. Keyes, a blend of 76% Merlot and 24% Cabernet Sauvignon. There are only 305 cases, but it is certainly one of the great Merlots of Napa Valley. Blackberry fruit interwoven with a hint of black cherry jam, licorice, camphor and charcoal are all present in this full-bodied, chocolaty, dense, super-sexy wine to drink over the next 10-15+ years.

The tannins are so fierce on this baby Cabernet that they effectively lock it down and make it tough to drink now. Yet there's a fabulous core of blackberries that are rich, ripe and intense. Everything about it suggests ageability. Give it at least eight years in a proper cellar, and it could age even longer.

This effort is meant for the cellar. It's huge in minerals, blackberries, blueberries and black currants, all touched with smoky oak. The tannins are strong, making it astringent and dry. Despite a touch of overripeness, it's quite an achievement, showcasing its mountain origins. This should develop in the bottle over the next 6-8 years.

There are simply not enough wines of this variety at this level from the Napa Valley so this stands out in more ways than one. Blueberry, blackberry and cinnamon provide a warmth of inviting and voluptuous layers of flavor that are buoyed by violet and lavender aromas, while softened tannins allow the texture to impress.

The 2015 La Jota Vineyard Cabernet Franc was sourced from the La Jota Vineyard and the W.S. Keys Vineyard and was aged for 22 months in 78% new French oak prior to bottling. The nose is distinctly feminine with rose petals and red cherry preserves alongside violets, crushed mint and blueberry compote. The palate is deep and brooding, as the combination of weight, texture and tension is outstanding. Black tea, blackberry cobbler, crushed mint, and black cherry compote flavors all show a dark tone. Kudos to superstar winemaker Chris Carpenter on this gorgeous Cabernet Franc that is as good as any in Napa. Try to resist this great bottling for at least another year.

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines This is a rich and tannic young red with blackberries, blueberries and currant bush. Some fresh basil. Full-bodied, chewy and impressive. Burly and fun. Needs at least three or four years to soften.

This is vivid and beautifully rendered, with a dense yet racy core of unadulterated cassis, boysenberry and blackberry puree flavors, flecked with anise, light bramble and polished ganache notes. The long finish shows a great tug of tarry earth while the fruit drives on.

From an outstanding vintage, the 2015 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon lives up to expectations. Exhibiting rich black-fruit aromas, this wine is beautifully structured, showing power and finesse in unlikely combination. The tannins are firm but nicely integrated and suggest a long life.

Exotic herb and floral tones start off this brawny full-bodied wine. Plum and black currant flavors underscore bristling acidity and a well-built tannic structure, as secondary characteristics of sage, cedar and oak emerge. This should be put away and enjoyed 2025–2030.

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon by La Jota is a seductive blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Cabernet Franc, 7.5% Merlot, 6% Malbec and 3% Petit Verdot which was aged for 22 months in 65% new French oak prior to bottling. Needing more than a two hour decant at this juncture, the wine takes on glorious creme de cassis, Turkish coffee, blueberry cordial and wild thyme aromatics. The palate shows marvelous complexly and range. Black tea, blueberry compote, mocha and blackberry pie flavors all beautifully mingle in the glass. Rich and layered, this hedonistic effort will cellar marvelously for decades. Be sure to give this at least a two hour decant if enjoying in its youth.

Bright purple color. Gorgeous aromatics that shift and evolve wonderfully: dark currants, black cherries, complex waves of graphite, smashed rocks, menthol, tobacco, espresso, violets. The palate is full but suave, and the tannins show grip but rounded edges, while the acidity is really bright and keeps me salivating. Pure black currant and tart blackberry fruit is laced with tobacco leaf, graphite, violets, mint, coffee, dark chocolate, espresso. Air does wonders to this wine, so I’d recommend a serious decant if opening in the next few years, otherwise feel free to properly cellar this and forget about it for a long time. Includes a combined 25% Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Aged 22 months in 65% new French oak.

Blended with small percentages of 12% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, and then aged in 90% new French oak for 19months, this stellar effort offers reduced oak, bark, toast and clove aromas and flavors alongside sizable, structured tannin and hearty ripeness. Black currant and chocolate dust a layer of tobacco. Enjoy best 2024 through 2034.