What to Drink Now: Napa Cabernet Sauvignon A good bottle of Cab remains a go-to wine Napa Valley delivers sublime Cabernet Sauvignon options. The joy is finding what your palate prefers. Here are a few to try this season. (Some were sent for editorial consideration.) Get a taste of all of these delicious wines and more, while helping the Napa Valley community, at Auction Napa Valley May 31 through June 3, presented annually by the Napa Valley Vintners. For lovers of high-elevation mountain fruit, consider Cardinale ($250) which blends five of Napa’s mountain ranges into layers of dried blueberry, leather, cigar box and espresso for an earthy representation of textured, highly structured Cabernet Sauvignon. Or highlighted in individual mountain AVAs, like Cardinale sister wines La Jota ($75) from Howell Mountain and Mt. Brave ($75) from Mount Veeder, both concentrated, dense and divine.

Perfect Pair: Gnocchi with Neapolitan Meat Ragu with Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Recipe The Pairing: Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 The Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon is meant to show all that is Mt. Veeder without overt tannins and the 2014 is a great example of that proposition. Black and red berry characters with hints of herb, Asian spice, espresso and toast combine with floral notes, weight and a wonderful finish. Blend: 90.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 8.5% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec.

None of these examples is a wimpy wine, as some people think of merlot, but the Mt. Brave Merlot 2014, Mt. Veeder, Napa Valley, pretty much takes the prize for structure. Made from grapes grown between 1,400 and 1,800 feet in elevation — it’s the old Chateau Potelle property — this 100 percent varietal wine aged 19 months in French oak, 93 percent new barrels. The wine displays another inky-black-purple hue with a violet rim; every aspect is intense and concentrated, from the tightly-wound notes of black currants, blueberries and (just a hint) boysenberry to the piercing granitic-and-graphite minerality to its rigorous tannins permeated by iodine, iron and loam. Give it a few minutes in the glass, and it calls up the dusty herbaceous quality of dried thyme and rosemary (with a touch of rosemary’s slightly astringent woodsy nature) that I associate with high-elevation red wines, all of these elements energized and bound by keen acidity; the finish feels chiseled from stone. 14.5 percent alcohol. Production was 532 cases. Winemaker was Chris Carpenter. This is a wine built to age; try from 2019 or ’20 through 2030 to ’34, properly stored. Excellent.

Stepping up the price ladder at $125/bottle was the 2013 Single Block Mt. Brave, a project of the much-acclaimed Chris Carpenter, also either the current or past winemaker at Cardinale, La Jota and Lokoya (quite an impressive resume). It’s 100 percent Mt. Veeder fruit and spends three-plus years in barrel before it is bottled. All cabernet sauvignon, it is heavily perfumed with aromas of black fruit, especially blackberry. While heavily tannic (which will likely dissipate over time), the fruit flavor is outstanding and beautiful.

Mt. Brave’s Chris Carpenter (who is also the winemaker at nearby Cardinale) produces wines from the elevated Mount Veeder area, which draws cool air off San Pablo Bay. The 2013 cabernet sauvignon has perfumes of blueberry and black plum with hints of tobacco and toasted walnut. Its substantial palate cries out for a rare T-bone steak.

Wind River & Mt. Brave on this Week's Wine & Film Podcast

What to Drink Now: Marvelous Merlot Rugged, rough and untamed describes the vineyards of Mt. Brave high atop Mount Veeder, giving their Merlot wines density, robust earthiness and layers of tobacco, leather, and crushed stone minerality.

Dark garnet, rich cherry, cedar, chocolate. Juicy, rich, cherry, plum, chocolate, long. Great acidity.

It sounds like there is everything to love here. Fred lists this wine as having a distinctive, enticing nose of moist cedar, spicy forest floor, and fresh red fruits with blueberry juice and mocha. A very special wine, according to Fred, with fine tannins and quite a long finish. The five-case PNV lot sold for $20,000.

7 Winter Warmer Red Wines To Help Beat the Cold Beautifully rich with elegant raspberries, dark chocolate, brown sugar, spice and vanilla.

Uncorked: Spire Collection a portfolio of all stars Younger vineyards still turned out a big wine with the Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 that was dark purple, almost black in the glass. There’s cedar on the nose, big oak and cassis. Flavors of blackberry, cassis, coal and tar emerge on a wine that serves as a great glimpse into what winemaker Chris Carpenter can do with elevation vineyards.

Inky garnet in color, this wine smells of cassis, black cherry and tobacco. In the mouth rich black cherry, graphite, tobacco and the vanilla of new oak mix with a smoky espresso quality that is quite compelling. Rich, dark, and woodsy, this wine nonetheless has excellent acidity that cuts through the fine grained powdery tannins that coat the mouth.

The inaugural release of the Mt. Brave 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon entices the nose with deep scents of blueberry and violets, and its texture, like finely woven satin, coats the mouth, without initially revealing the gentle yet firm tannins that lie beneath its flavors of ripe fruit, vanilla bean, and mineral.

This dark-hued elixir conjures up delicious notes of black raspberry, anise, allspice, and sarsaparilla.

Even more intriguing for Carpenter, however, is the 2008 Malbec, a dark-hued infusion of black raspberry, anise, allspice, and sarsaparilla.

Focused on bright, mildly melony fruit, but decked out with lots of grassiness and a deft bit of creamy oak, this very well-crafted wine is both interesting and also easy to drink. Slightly rounded in texture, yet always lively and light on its feet, it truly earns the food friendly epithet that is so often used in describing the attractions of the grape.

Dense and extracted, with lots of flesh, spice, and rich plum fruit.

Merlot should be plush and appealing, and this polished wine is. Flavours of plum and chocolate dominate, with little tannin in the way. Drink now.

Very good. Lots of oak with tropical fruit, banana, baked apple, fig, spice, lemon and Mandarin orange; vanilla and toast also on the nose; nice texture; citrus finish.

While in the tank, Matanzas Creek winemaker Marcia Torres Forno said the Pinot Noir 2015 smells like rose petals. A cold soak before fermentation led to an earthy, medium bodied Pinot with strawberry and cherry flavors.

Longtime California producer Matanzas Creek is best known for its elegant Bennett Valley Merlot, but this savory, black-peppery Syrah is just as impressive. Its blackberry fruit and orange-peel acidity gain backbone from the inclusion of 14 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.

A big wine at a not-so-big price, it has aromas and flavors of wheat, blackberry, plum, cherry, toast, licorice and spice, with a pleasant earthiness and velvety tannins.

Very good and a panel favorite. Earth, wheat, blackberry, plum, cherry, toast, licorice and spice on nose and palate; ripe flavors; velvety tannins; long finish; a big wine.

Closing in on four years of age, this dense and complex wine hasn't come together yet. The tight structure seems to absorb all of its supple black raspberry and cherry fruit, giving the impression of richness and leanness at once. Give it time to mature and the tension between the fruit and structure should bellow into a satisfying and compelling whole.

A big ol’ Merlot that works This is a big'ol Merlot and usually at 14.7% alcohol that’s all you get in the nose, alcohol. But not here. Instead of hot hot heat we get black currant and cracked black pepper (maybe a little cardamom) along with blueberries and vanilla. The wine is rich and savory, coating the palate. With a good acidity, it tamps down that alcohol to expose the fat, round character of the wine. It’s a big one, but a good one. Rating - B+.