Superb purity of fruit with crushed blackcurrants and flowers. Full-bodied with a creamy and stony texture. The fine, powdery tannins provide wonderful length and intensity. Great potential. Could be better than the 2019.

Tasted as a tank sample and made from 87% Cabernet Franc, 11% Merlot, and a splash of Malbec, the 2021 Le Desir is highly aromatic at this stage and opens to wild and savory aromas of black and blue fruit, with a mineral-tinged lift. Gripping in structure, it’s long on the palate with savory richness and the feel of a rugged landscape. Massive structured, while having reined in alcohol levels, this is going to be another one to lay down for some time.

Tasted as a tank sample, the 2021 La Muse is 91% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and a splash of Malbec. It’s loaded with attractive ripe fruit, graphite, and lots of flowers. Offering ripeness as well as incredible structure, it has nothing heavy or heated about it. With alcohol levels at 14.2%, it’s unquestionably going to improve with significant age, so it will probably be best to stash this away for quite a few years before it reaches its peak drinking window. Scheduled to be bottled In February 2024, it’s showing the potential to be a truly stunning wine.

A barrel sample blend of 80% Cabernet Franc, 15% Merlot and 5% Malbec, the 2020 Le Désir has an opaque ruby-purple color and slowly unfolding scents of blueberries, plums, mint chocolate, braised meats and cast iron. The palate is lifted and restrained, with bright freshness, powdery tannins and a violet and iron-laced finish.

An already blended barrel sample of 82% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot and 6% Malbec, the 2016 Le Desir has an inky purple-black color and gives up expressive, complex notions of kirsch, wild blueberries, cassis and black raspberries with touches of wild thyme, baking spices, baker’s chocolate, Marmite toast and beef drippings. Medium to full-bodied and built like a brick house in the mouth, it has a rock-solid foundation of very firm, ripe, grainy tannins and just enough freshness to lift the densely packed black and red fruit layers, finishing on a lingering mineral note. This should be very, very long lived!

Seillan said that 2015 (which was still in barrel at the time of my tasting) was the finest vintage of his lifetime, which is strong praise indeed. Certainly, he has three titanic wines aging in the wine cellars. The 2015 La Joie (75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot) has an intensity that is off the charts, and that’s saying something, given how concentrated these wines tend to be. An enormous, colossal example of wine, with an opaque purple color and an intense nose of black fruits, camphor, forest floor and graphite, the wine is super-pure, very full-bodied, with intense levels of glycerin and richness. The finish goes on for a good 60+ seconds. This should turn out to be utterly profound. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050+.

Seillan said that 2015 (which was still in barrel at the time of my tasting) was the finest vintage of his lifetime, which is strong praise indeed. Certainly, he has three titanic wines aging in the wine cellars. If you want to taste something that is like Château Ausone on steroids, check out the 2015 Le Désir, a blend of 64% Cabernet Franc, 26% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. This huge, ripe wine offers incredible balance, a black/purple color, a stunning nose of crushed rock, white flowers, blueberries and blackberries intermixed with incense and a forest floor component, and an extraordinary integration of tannin, acidity, wood and alcohol. This magnificent wine should age effortlessly for 35-40+ years.

Sourced from a single block of the estate Veeder Peak Vineyard (1,800 feet above sea level), Lokoya's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder boasts plenty of cedar, bay leaf and cherries on the nose. This wine shows a more linear nature than the other Lokoya bottlings, being full-bodied but streamlined, velvety and concentrated, with a long, richly textured finish.

Medium ruby red in colour with bright purple undertones. Aromas of red florals, warm cherry liqueur, sweet toasted tobacco and eucalyptus. Blackberry, medley of cherry, redcurrant, liquorice and asphalt. On entry: a jet propelled rush to the senses. A liquid pleasure bomb.The textural depth and volume would fill a galaxy! The cherry nuance is enough to captivate the imbiber, let alone all the other notes. Fine tannins balance out ultra fresh tangy acids. Energy just leaps out of the glass. Light saline savouriness. Persistent long close. Wow! Wow! Wow!

A massive, powerful, full-bodied beast of a wine that reminds me of a great vintage of Ch teau Latour with its structure and regal character, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder offers a beautiful bouquet of blackberries, wild cherries, iron, spring flowers, and wild scrub brush. It’s concentrated, has massive extract and richness, no shortage of tannins, and a huge finish. It’s not for the instant gratification crowd and needs 7-8 years of bottle age, but it will see its 30th birthday in fine form.

The 2019 La Joie is striking on the nose with its pure, alluring scents of violet and iron. As it spends time in the glass, it gains intensity, blossoming to aromas ofcrème de cassis, mint chocolate, licorice, truffle and softening new French oak spices. The palate is bursting with concentrated fl avors characterized by energetic acidity rather than weight or extraction. It features tremendously velvety tannins and a very long finish with ringing graphite and violet tones.

The 2019 La Muse is a blend of 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Malbec. Deep garnet-purple in color, it skips out of the glass with bright scents of freshly crushed black and red plums, boysenberries, and Morello cherries, plus hints of garrigue, cedar chest, wet slate, and truffles plus a waft of crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is super intense and firm with a solid wall of ripe tannins and compelling freshness holding up a ton of expressive earth and black fruit layers, finishing with epic length. 2,500 cases were made.

Pure, classic California notes of crème de cassis, spicy oak, chalky minerality, graphite, and spring flowers emerge from the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon, a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot that's sourced from multiple mountain AVAs in the valley. Full-bodied and powerful on the palate, it has a deep, rich mid-palate, beautiful tannins, notable acidity, and a great, great finish. It's another brilliant wine from Carpenter that can offer pleasure today yet also evolve for 20-25 years or more.

The 2019 Pinot Noir Hapgood is slightly more feminine, with a beautiful perfume of red and black raspberries as well as spice, rose petals, shrimp broth, and iodine-like aromas and flavors. Utterly seamless on the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, has perfectly integrated acidity, no hard edges, and a great finish. This is one of those rare wines that blends power and finesse perfectly. Drink this gorgeous, singular Pinot Noir over the coming 15-20 years.

The Cabernet Franc blend of the trio, the 2018 Le Desir is 82% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot, and 6% Malbec, and as with all these wines, it was brought up in new barrels. Ruby/purple and not completely opaque, it offers up a classic Cabernet Franc nose of mostly red fruits, spring flowers, damp earth, cedary spices, and truffle. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it shines for its incredible elegance and purity more than outright power, yet it still brings plenty of richness. With ultra-fine tannins, perfect balance, and one heck of a great finish, it's another great, great wine from this estate.

Lastly, the 2018 La Joie does everything right and offers a Château Lafite-like style in both its aromatics and its elegant, seamless mouthfeel. Gorgeous blackcurrants, lead pencil shavings, damp earth, unsmoked tobacco, and woodsmoke nuances all develop with time in the glass and this is one of those wines that offers something new every time you come back to the glass. Rich, medium to full-bodied, perfectly balanced, and incredibly elegant, it has ripe, polished, yet substantial tannins, remarkable purity of fruit, and a thrilling finish. Give bottles 4-5 years and it will keep for 30 years or more.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard is even more concentrated and dense, with a massive core of ripe blackcurrants, crushed stone, leather, tobacco, spicy oak, and graphite, and it has this burning ember-like character that reminds me of a great Hermitage. More medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has remarkable balance, ultra-fine tannins, a great spine of acidity, and one heck of a finish. As with the Helena Montana Vineyard, it's a baby that needs at least 4-5 years of bottle age and will have 30+ years of longevity. It's on par with the finest Bordeaux blends coming out of California today.

Napa Valley’s 2018sThe 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District is a monster of a mountain Cabernet that has a primordial bouquet of blackcurrants, smoked earth, chocolate, and graphite. While Spring Mountain wines tend to be more aromatic and complex right out of the gate, that’s not the case here, and this is going to need bottle age to round into form. Full-bodied on the palate, with a rich, concentrated mouthfeel, it has serious tannins, notable purity of fruit, and a great finish. With air, it picks up more and more classic Spring Mountain floral and exotic notes, and it’s flawlessly balanced, with gorgeous tannins and a great, great finish. This is a brilliant wine in the lineup and unquestionably one of the true gems from Spring Mountain in 2018. Give bottles 4-5 years and enjoy over the following 2-3 decades.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is based on a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot that spent 22 months in 81% new French oak. It’s a wonderfully complete, borderline perfect wine that shows the class of this estate as well as the vintage, revealing a seamless, full-bodied style that carries lots of blackcurrant, graphite, lead pencil, and tobacco aromatics, a deep, layered mid-palate, ultra-fine tannins, and flawless balance. As with most of Chris’s 2018s, it’s a wine that builds slowly with time in the glass, offering a layered, singular character. It’s a gorgeous 2018 that can be drunk today with ample pleasure, but it will ideally be given 4-6 years of bottle age, at which point it should evolve gracefully for 30-40 years.

“The Cab Franc was quite spectacular in 2017. There is a bit more in the blend this year,” Pierre Seillan told me during the tasting of the 2017s with his daughter and one day successor, Helene. A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot, the 2017 La Joie has a very deep garnet-purple color. It opens a little closed and broody, giving glimpses of blackcurrant cordial, espresso, charcoal and black truffles to begin, before blossoming out to a whole array of preserved black and blue fruits, dusty soil, crushed rocks and iron ore scents plus a waft of roses. The medium to full-bodied palate is built like a brick house, with firm, grainy tannins and a lively backbone supporting the muscular fruit, finishing very long and mineral laced. The alcohol weighed in at just 13.9% this year (14% on the label), making for a particularly elegant but no less impactful La Joie!

Sonoma: Another Brilliant Vintage in 2018Lastly, the 2017 Le Desir is 80% Cabernet Franc, with the balance mostly Merlot mixed with a splash of Malbec. It has a wonderful Cabernet Franc floral character as well as awesome black raspberry, cedarwood, forest floor, violets, rose petals, new leather, and who knows what else. Incredibly complex, it takes lots of air to show at its best and is medium to full-bodied, has a bright spine of acidity, fabulous tannins, and a great, great finish. The elegance of this wine paired with its richness and depth is something to behold. It’s another damn near perfect wine from this estate, and to see this quality from a challenging vintage like 2017 boggles the mind. Hats off to the father-daughter team of Pierre and Hélène Seillan.

The 2017s From Sonoma Another gem that’s going to flirt with perfection in a decade is the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Rockfall Vineyard. Based on 100% Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon aged 20 months in 65% new French oak, its deep purple color is followed by a mammoth-sized bouquet of crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, scorched earth, and graphite. Showing more spice and tobacco with time in the glass, it has incredible purity of fruit, building tannins, and flawless balance, all making for a majestic Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon that will keep for 30 years or more.

Very deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain gives up wonderfully expressive crème de cassis, licorice, tar and underbrush notes with hints of charcuterie and bay leaves. Big, rich, full and opulent in the mouth, it has firm, velvety tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long with spice nuances coming through.

The famous Bosché Vineyard is a spot in Rutherford composed of gravelly, loamy soil and situated just at the base of the Mayacamas Mountains. A blend of 93.8% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6.2% Merlot, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosché Vineyard was aged 28 months in French oak. This vineyard has turned out many a classic wine capable of lasting 30-40 years, and this 2013 is one of the all-time great Bosché Cabernet Sauvignons. It offers an inky ruby/purple color, a gorgeous nose of graphite, black cherry, wood spice and barbecue notes, enormous body and richness, and a heady, full-bodied, long finish of 50+ seconds with moderately high tannins. This is a great classic from Napa, but not one for drinking over the near-term. Give it 7-8 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 50 years.

Vibrant ruby and purple, youthful and bright in the glass. Blackberry pastille, Chinese five spice, and pastrami aromas. Palate is instantly alive with power and intensity yet a youthful vibrancy. Red and black berry fruits sit in the central pylon, strung from there we see a mélange of powdered spices, curing meats and earthy undertones. Tannins are prodigious in their power but never stray beyond the required tension, allow the full textural joy of this wine to carry to an almost limitless end. A wine of juxtaposition, carrying a lightness of being that belies its power and intensity.