Best of Napa

Wow.  Yes, this is expensive but this is truly an amazing wine.  Purple in color.  The nose is just amazing.  Cassis, blueberries, slight spice and sandalwood, some cedar.  Deep and complex.  On the palate, open for business.  Bevan wines drink better younger than any luxury wines I know of.  Cassis, blueberries, slight earth/minerals.  Deep and complex.  Great mouthfeel.  Damn delicious.  One of those wines where each sip leaving you wanting another one.  Then the bottle is drained.  Hard to say if this will get better, maybe so with some maturity.  

Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is slightly earthy with black raspberries.  Light tannins mostly resolved.  Very smooth.  Some layering as it unwinds in the glass.  Cassis, earth.  Finishes with a bit of menthol.  This is showing gorgeously and I think probably at peak right now.  No hurry but I would drink in the next decade and maybe a bit sooner.  It won't get better.  Groth is a wine that is maybe not as trendy as it used to be, but that is not because of any lack of quality.  They still consistently put out top notch Napa Cabs.  

Inky purple in color.  This is very tight (pop and pour).  Unlike a lot of 2012's, this needs some air or cellar time.  The nose is nice with cassis, graphite, vanilla and spice.  Full bodied.  Lush and big.  On the palate, black currants, black pepper, sandal wood and slight earthy forest floor notes.  Good balance.  Long finish.  Kept improving.  Great now, but with upside.  Probably anothe 10 years to peak and good for a couple more decades.  Prodigious wine.

This is from the To Kalon vineyard in Napa.  Truly one of the best and certainly historic vineyards on the valley floor.  One of the best Cab Francs made in Napa.  Purple in color.  The nose has cassis, black cherries, slight cigar tobacco.  Nice.  On the palate, this is ripe and avoids the green pepper that sometimes is in Cab Franc (for better and worse).  It has great black cherry fruit, some black raspberries.  Depth though still quite tight.  This is young and needs a decade IMO.  Long finish.  

Opened at 9:00 am and allowed to breathe.  Served at 9:00 pm.  Gorgeous wine. Still young, of course, but after a night of a lot of wines, this demanded my attention.  This is just the Estate, I can't wait to try the Grand Vin.  I actually checked the label to make sure I didn't open the wrong bottle.  Purple in color.  The nose is great with cassis, slight cedar and spice, graphite, and a bit of dark chocolate.  Wonderful lush mouthfeel.  Good acidity.  Cassis flavors.  Deep but it unwinds in the glass.  Still a decade at least from peak.  Long finish.  I know these wines have escalated in

I opened this at 8:00 am for serving about 12 hours later.  It needed more time or a decant.  Still, once in the glass it continued to open up all night.  Just a gorgeous wine.  A bit more time and this probably merits a perfect score.  Purple in color.  The nose has cassis, blueberries, gravel, char and slight cedar.  On the palate, just a wonderful juicy, lush texture.  Almost seamless.  Voluptuous.  Lots of bluieberry and cassis fruit with underlying gravel.  Pinpoint acidity.  Long finish.  Worked great with dinner.  While there is upside for holding it is fantastic right now.  Just an

Gorgeous.  This wine is sexy and almost seamless.  Although youthful, it is drinking beautifully at age ten with a decade or two left.  Purple in color.  The nose has cassis, sandalwood, blueberries, and cedar.  On the palate, just a great texture.  Deep, it shows nice layering as it unwinds in the glass.  Cassis and blueberries with minerals and char.  Quite smooth.  Long finish.  It is delicious.  Worked great with food as well.  

This is about as good as Zinfandel gets for me.  It should probably be getting a higher score actually.  Purple in color.  The nose has black cherries, spice, black pepper and slight bramble.  On the palate, this is almost seamless.  Great black chery fruit, slight blueberry.  Great balance.  It has a lightness that is deft while packing a powerful punch.  Delicious.  Will it get better?  I really, really need to try and stock one awy and find out.  Just a fantastic wine and a great value.  

I have been lucky enough to try this twice in a month.  Both times just as amazing.  Purple in color.  The nose is great with cassis, cedar and pencil lead.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this is almost seamless.  Gorgeous texture.  Cassis with graphite and underlying minerals.  Long finish.  More elegant than powerful but it has power.  This is still quite young and needs a long decant or better yet, more time in a good cellar.  

Gorgeous wine.  Still drinking quite youthfully, this has decades left.  Inky purple in color, magenta at the rim.  Great nose with cassis, blueberries, cedar and violets.  On the palate this has such a luxurious texture.  Lush with cassis.  Also some charred earth.  Tight layers that expand in glass.  Great precision.  Long finish.  This may yet improve a bit and will certainly gain in complexity.  Year n and out, one the best Cabs offered anywhere.