An exceptional cabernet of flare and precision. Dried sage, bay leaves and a smear of black olives serve as a savory balance to the wave of currants and mint, all riveted to refined tannins and a briny maritime freshness. The more I spend time in the Vale the more I realize just how good cabernet can be. A leader of the pack. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.

Probably Shane Moore's favourite wine, the blocks that go into this provide the wine with fantastic acidity. Dropstone references the glacial erratics, and there is almost no new wood year over year. The Dropstone is all about expressing power without oak or alcohol; it shows the concentration and pure fruit character of Pinot Noir from here in the Willamette Valley and the Yamhill Carlton. Intensity of fruit and character. 80-90% from the winery site, and "linear travel across the midpalate" gorgeous crushed strawberries, mint, white pepper, violets and exotic spices. It's a hell of a wine.

Lively, fresh and energized at age nine, this wine has plenty of life ahead of it. So vivid in cranberries, rooibus tea, rhubarb and dried cherries on a frame of firm acidity. Elegant and silky. Drink now or hold.

A stunning version, showing wonderful precision. Offers wild strawberry, raspberry and maraschino cherry flavors that are sleek and polished, plus wild fennel, toasted green tea, rose petal and cardamom details. There's a hint of forest floor on the long finish, with dense, velvety tannins. Drink now through 2037.

Aromatic and expressive, offering bright notes of cherry preserves, cranberry and fresh raspberry coulis up front on a silky, weightless frame. Yet this red's power comes from its expansive details, with elements of lavender, apple blossoms, clove-spiked orange, oolong tea and toasted cumin lingering on the long finish. Drink now through 2036.

Arcanum shows how well Cabernet Franc does in Tuscany, so well that the estate is planting more. Opens with a sauvage note of rosemary, oregano and dark berries. Copious ripe plum-like flavors on a suave palate with a peppery spiciness, firm acidity, and gorgeous balance. 100% Cabernet Franc sourced primarily from the Apparita (380m) and Belvedere (400m) parcels, the oldest Cabernet Franc vineyards of the estate (the estate has 17 ha total of Cabernet Franc in 12 blocks that all potentially contribute to to the final blend) located in the southwest part of the estate with sandy clay soils. Matured 12 months in 70% new French oak.

This impressive red offers a polished and powerful mix of violet, black currant, black cherry and spiced plum notes that are juicy and velvety. Details of bittersweet chocolate, rosemary, oregano, espresso and salted toffee add complexity and aromatics. Expressive and generous on the long finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Drink now through 2039. From Australia.

Of this producer's trio of single vineyard Chards, Tarraford is the most immediately lovable and refreshing now thanks to a salt-flecked citrus note throughout. It combines with subtle vanilla, toast, nougat and flint characters. The palate is seamlessly balanced with some weight and power but also lovely lifted acidity and texture.

Offers a very, very serious core of dark, winey blackberry pâte de fruit, plum reduction and boysenberry compote coated liberally with ganache, roasted apple wood and anise notes. Shows a fleshy, velvety edge, but there's a bolt of iron buried here, keeping this ramrod straight through the finish. A long violet echo shows its purity, but patience is required, as the structure is very strident. Best from 2028 through 2050. 883 cases made.

Vivid and brimming with fruit, this offers a deep well of blackberry, boysenberry and mulberry pâte de fruit notes that stretch out lengthily, as graphite, violet, singed apple wood and licorice snap accents add fuel. A focused version, with terrific cut and drive. Showing underlying tension from its rippling acidity, this should age slowly in the cellar while providing a textbook example of a classic Howell Mountain Cabernet. Best from 2027 through 2045. 551 cases made.

This gorgeous red captures the '21 fruit profile beautifully, with vivid mulberry, boysenberry and plum puree notes. The fruit steaks along, carried by a graphite spine, while anise and iris accents fill in. The bright, juicy, focused finish shows terrific underlying tension. This will cruise in the cellar. Best from 2025 through 2045. 701 cases made.

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard was matured for 15 months in 85% new French oak. It has an opaque ruby color and pure, detailed scents of blackcurrant, blueberry, violet and crème brûlée. The full-bodied palate is elegant, with a modest 13.8% alcohol. It’s notable for its polished texture, which offers both plushness and power. Its dark fruit is coiled and mineral-driven at this early stage, yet its very long, violet-laced finish hints at so much more to come. 750 cases were made.

A stunning version, showing wonderful precision. Offers wild strawberry, raspberry and maraschino cherry flavors that are sleek and polished, plus wild fennel, toasted green tea, rose petal and cardamom details. There's a hint of forest floor on the long finish, with dense, velvety tannins. Drink now through 2037. From Australia.

Aromatic and expressive, offering bright notes of cherry preserves, cranberry and fresh raspberry coulis up front on a silky, weightless frame. Yet this red's power comes from its expansive details, with elements of lavender, apple blossoms, clove-spiked orange, oolong tea and toasted cumin lingering on the long finish. Drink now through 2036. From Australia.

The 2021 Ironheart Shiraz aromatically speaks of its élevage in that the oak exudes a toasty, spiced malt-biscuit character that is wholly pleasing and enticing yet present. In the mouth, the fruit proves it is more than a match for its vessel; black pudding and pan drippings, blackberry coulis, dark cherries, squid ink and salted licorice cascade across a tannic foundation that is all about cocoa and drinking chocolate. This is both sybaritic and yet a little edgy: the whole-bunch component—25% this year—emphasizes the rachis of tannin in the mouth. The wine undulates and flows, and it is extraordinarily long through the finish. Not only can you taste the wine, you can feel it too; it is chewy and enveloping. I'd hold off from drinking this for some time; it is fresh and ready now, for sure, but the structure and length of flavor tell us that this will have a long and storied future ahead of it.

Fijnbosch is generally a little richer than the straight Capensis Chardonnay, but especially so in a warmer vintage like 2020. Sourced from two Banghoek vineyards planted in 1996, it has flavours of pear and orange zest, notes of beeswax and lemon butter, toasty 50% new wood and the concentration to evolve in bottle. These wines are becoming more confident with every vintage. 2025-31

Super fine, almost achingly so, like a delicate lattice of glass filaments. There’s a quiet power too, a whispered energy. It’s grapefruit zest and wild honey, a little dripped wax and flint. It shimmers and tingles, rides a wave of diamond-edged acidity and finishes in a cloud of crushed chalk. 

A complex story unfolds along the palate – reflective of the complex plantings of MV6, G5V15, 114 and Pommard clones across the steep Applejack Vineyard, that rises sharply from 180m to almost 300m in the upper Yarra Valley. A moreish juiciness is celebrated thanks to 40% whole-bunch fruit in the fermentation, but the sophisticated flavour profile in this restrained, almost coy expression turns very serious in the back-palate, when a surge of black cherry grunt enters the conversation and leaves you with plenty to contemplate by its powerful closing note.

A cold, wet spring and cooler summer has given power and drive to bright, lively flavours from the high-elevation (200m) Sexton Vineyard. Lifted aromas show dark tones of exotic tropical fruits – grilled pineapple, yuzu and guava – with some fresh grated ginger. The palate entry is focused and tightly bound, although this taut and proud wine benefits from 20% malolactic fermentation and some battonage post-fermentation to add roundness to the mouthfeel. It has exuberance to match its serious power and drive.

This wine is shaped very differently from its predecessors in this vineyard – most notably Eileen Hardy Chardonnay – even though it still features only I10V1 clone fruit. The difference is due to an open-hearted winemaking approach from Melanie Chester, allowing rich fruit notes to relax in a luscious mouthfeel. A quarter of the grapes go through malolactic fermentation to soften any austerity from a powerful acid seam running through the palate. This highly impressive result comes before any significant vineyard improvements by the Giant Steps team at Bastard Hill have taken effect, proving that this single site wine will generate even greater excitement into the future.

The Sycamore Vineyard is an 8.9ha planted site in Rutherford at the base of the Mayacamas, on gravelly clay loam soils that are very shallow, and the vines struggle more, and that tends to make wines of more dried herb character. 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franck, and 3% Petite Verdot were aged 26 months in 66% new French oak. So fragrant with the cool mountain garrigue growing around the site, some of the bright green bay laurel notes lend a minty kind of freshness along with loamy earth and dark cinnamon character. Full-bodied with pronounced tannins that winemaker Kristy Melton says are really the result of skin tannin from the berries in 2021, which were about half the size of the berries growing in the Bosché vineyard (meaning very tiny). Plush dark blue and black fruit character is layered atop those robust tannins, framed by toasty oak spices. I would say enjoy this in its youth for its more opulent fruit qualities while the Bosché comes together over time. A very nice effort.

In 1972, the partners of Freemark Abbey had struck a long-term agreement with John Bosché for his Rutherford Cabernet, which had been sold to Beaulieu Vineyard as a component in its flagship Georges de Latour bottling. Since 1970, Freemark Abbey has produced Cabernet Bosché. The 8.9ha Bosché vineyard sits on a gravel bench with a high water table and requires a bit more attention to control vigour. 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Merlot were aged 26 months in 66% new French oak. In 2021, the Bosché single vineyard wine is very precise, very focused and has a wonderful linear quality of freshness from the bouquet to the long finish. A firm spine of acidity underscores a bed of taut, firm, and fine-grained tannins layered with red-toned fruits, sandalwood, and notes of cinnamon, clove, and fragrant cedar, all framed by that wonderfully dusty mineral tannin backbone. Quite spectacular.

This wine is rich, with aromas of blueberry, black plum, cardamom, violets and earth on the nose. The flavors on the palate are fresh raspberry, boysenberry and dried fennel, sliding into white grapefruit zest, dark chocolate and a dry, supple finish. Hold or drink until 2034 Pair with roast guinea hen.

The 2021 Helena Montana Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and sports a deep garnet-purple color. After a swirl or two, notes of freshly crushed blackcurrants, boysenberries, and blackberries spill from the glass, followed by hints of licorice, tar, and cumin seed, plus an earthy touch of underbrush. The medium to full-bodied palate is tightly wound with black berry and savory layers, supported by a rock-solid structure of firm, grainy tannins and well-knit freshness, finishing long and minerally.

The flagship wine of Stonestreet. The nose is complex and delicate, with an underlying power displaying aromas of dark cherries, blood plums, graphite and sage. The palate is seamless and tight, with silky smooth tannins, bright acidity and a long, lingering finish carrying notes of blackberry compote, graphite, pomegranates and tobacco leaves. Grown at 730 meters on volcanic soil. Drink or hold.