Good full red. Briary aromas of cassis, bitter cherry, smoke, shoe polish and lather. Dense and penetrating, with strong dark berry flavors that offer enticing subtle sweetness. Comes across as less broad but more fulled in than the Diamond Mountain bottling. Tannins are substantial but softer than those of the above sample.

Oak aromatics fill the wine with brown spices, compressing the powerful black fruit, seeming to add to the pungent dry spice in the mouth. This is strong stuff, the extract is intense, and yet it brings food to mind as a big, tough nebbiolo might.

Dark, tannic and rich with lots of smoke, spice and tangy plum fruit; rich and long.

…reveals an opaque purple color, and a sumptuous, Medoc-like nose of lead pencil, minerals, black currants, and smoky oak. It is extremely full-bodied and massive in the mouth, with sweet tannin, a layered, plushly-textured mid-palate, and a firm, exceptionally long, pure finish.

Lokoya's 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain offers good immediacy, which makes it the most accessible of these 2014s. Medium in body, the 2014 is a bit light in structure and overall intensity. It will be interesting to see if the 2014 gains a bit more volume and body in its aging. Today, it is decidedly compact. Graphite, game, smoke and incense infuse the expressive finish. In 2014, the fruit for this wine came from what was formerly Wallis.

Dense mountain minerality, tar and briary black fruit flavours on a full-bodied frame. This is a wine with great vibrancy and brisk acidity, suggesting a long life.

Dark red. Expressive aromas of plum, red currant, tobacco and minerals, with a strong black cherry quality emerging with air. Ripe and pliant but firm, with intense dark berry and licorice flavors framed by harmonious acidity. Offers lovely sweetness with restraint. Very suave and fine-grained on the horizontal finish.

Bright red-ruby. Vinous, claret-like aromas of redcurrant, tobacco and menthol. Sweet, juicy and aromatic in the mouth, with a pliant texture for Diamond Mountain cabernet and lovely floral lift. In a rather round style, and offering considerable early appeal. Finishes with supple, building tannins and very good lingering sweetness of fruit.

Good deep ruby-red. Cassis, plum, licorice and spices on the nose. Supple, broad and sweet, with a fine-grained texture and good density to the cassis, raspberry and dark chocolate flavors. Lush and surprisingly silky-the softest of these three 2004 bottlings-but with no shortage of inner-mouth energy. Finishes with substantial dusty tannins.

Good full ruby. Brooding aromas of dark cherry, currant, minerals and mint, plus a whiff of pungent cassis leaf. Supple and densely packed, with dark fruit flavors complemented by a mineral suggestion of gunflint. Very ripe but not at all over the top. This builds nicely on the back end, with the tannins arriving late and allowing the fruit to linger. A worthy follow-up to the excellent 2003 release.

Napa Valley’s Extraordinary 2016 Cabernets - Part 1 The 2016 Merlot W.S. Keyes is very polished in this vintage, with a bit less tannin than has often been the case. That silkiness allows the fruit to shine through, even in the early going. Inky blue and purplish fruit, spice and vanillin all run through this flavorful, juicy Merlot, which, in reality, includes 23% Cabernet Sauvignon. Perhaps it is the high percentage of Cabernet that makes the Keyes not quite as distinctive as it can be.

Here is a Merlot that at first impresses as being of two minds for, while it leads with deep and relatively open aromas of ripe cherries, berries, cocoa and sweet oak, it proves to be far less forthcoming once in the mouth. It is a big-boned wine with the very firm structure of one that wants to age for at least a half-dozen years, but, as youthfully tight and tannic as it may be right now, there is simply no questioning its fruity depth or its future. Hide it away with full confidence that waiting will pay big dividends. Two stars.

Juicy red fruit meets black olive tannins in a crush of stony, mineral warmth, ending this powerful wine with some freshness and tension. Youthfully hard in its structure, this should age well over the next several years.

The 2011 Merlot W. S. Keyes from the Kendall-Jackson site on Howell Mountain is a blend of 76% Merlot and 24% Cabernet Sauvignon offering a deep ruby/purple color as well as serious old vine richness, and a full-bodied, brooding, powerful mouthfeel. It ratchets up the level of intensity, and seems even deeper and longer than the Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. There are plenty of chocolate-infused berry fruit, mocha and espresso notes in this impressive 2011. Drink it over the next decade

La Jota's 2010 Merlot WS Keyes impresses for its textural elegance and finesse. Here, too, the sweet floral notes add lift, freshness and vibrancy. The 2010 has a vein of salinity that gives the wine much of its energy and verve. This beautifully balanced Merlot-based red should drink well relatively early, but also age nicely. The blend is 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged predominantly in new oak.

Napa Valley’s Extraordinary 2016 Cabernets - Part 1 The 2016 Cabernet Franc is going to need a few years to shed some of its baby fat and fully come together. Today, the new oak is a bit prominent. Even so, there is good depth to the fruit. The 2016 is still very young, though. I would prefer to cellar it for at least a few years before venturing into bottles.

Cabernet Franc has always done well on Howell Mountain and La Jota's 2012 Cabernet Franc (100% Cabernet Franc aged in 80% new French oak) exhibits attractive notes of forest floor, brambleberries, truffles, licorice and blue and black fruits. Medium-bodied and dense, with terrific fruit intensity, lots of glycerin, but no sense of heaviness or astringency, it should drink well for a decade.

Particularly impressive is the sexy, seductive 2008 Cabernet Franc. Its dark garnet/plum color is followed by sweet aromas of bay leaf, raspberries and blueberries, a medium-bodied, fleshy mouthfeel and striking minerality as well as balance. This soft, lush 2008 should drink nicely for 10-15 years. Since being acquired by Jess Jackson, La Jota Vineyard Co. has been a work in progress. The very strong 2007s have been followed by very good 2008s, so, hopefully, this well-known estate, which made some phenomenal wines in the mid-nineties, is back on track.

A chewy and fruity red with blackberry, chocolate and hints of cedar. Medium to full body. Hazelnut finish.

Mocha and dark chocolate with big black plums. Full-bodied and supple.

Lots of dark-fruit and tar character on the nose and palate. Full body with silky tannins and a dark-chocolate, berry and mineral undertone. A little more subdued than the 2010 but outstanding. Needs two or three years to soften: Try in 2016.

Mint, dark berry, briar and anise aromas lead to a tightly wound palate of similar character. Vanilla, red raspberry, chocolate and excellent acidity. This is a wine that needs time.

Deep ruby. Pretty aromas of blackberry, blueberry and bitter chocolate; smells riper than the basic cabernet bottling. Then denser and sweeter in the mouth, with the concentration of chewy black fruit flavor to support the wine's powerful tannins. Medicinal but not green or aggressive. An excellent example of Howell Mountain cabernet.

...it has deep, fine blackberry and cherry fruit flavors, and should have a good future. The score reflects the possibilities after 5-7 years of aging.

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Heritage is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the estate vineyard, planted at 1,800 to 1,850 feet. It has fabulous aromatics of lead pencil shavings, black and blue fruits, forest floor and floral notes. With loads of fruit, but also an elevated level of tannin, this deep purple-colored wine is impressive, but still unevolved and youthful. Give it another 4-5 years of cellaring as well.