Trefethen Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley 2018 750ml

"For the second year running, it’s an Oak Knoll Cabernet which has carried the Best In Show torch for the Napa, underlining the fact that this spot in the Valley seems to be ideal for mingling Napa’s diagnostic generosity and depth with an expressive finesse and an approachability which both appeals to our judges and chimes with the wine world’s zeitgeist. The wine is still dark black-purple, and the aromatic currant and berry fruits are blue, tender and enticing, with skilled and seamless oak integration. On the palate, the wine has weight and depth -- but what you really notice in this 2018 vintage is its purity and inner energy; the weight and depth follow on after, but don’t overwhelm from the start. The seamless integration of acidity and brisk tannin, too, is another mouthwatering hallmark -- of skilled winemaking, or the place? Who’s to say?"

"10% Petit Verdot; 3% Merlot; 2% Malbec; 1% Cabernet Franc. Deep and very well-defined curranty fruit is the centerpiece here and is joined by both lovely accents of mildly creamy oak and the lightly loamy traits emblematic of Cabernet Sauvignons from the Napa Valley floor. Fleshy, moderately full and firmed by the pushy presence of youthful tannins, the wine toughens a touch in the latter going, though no more than is expected of a good Cabernet of its age, and, if a half-decade of patience will result in a more supple wine, this one has the right pieces in the right places to age beautifully and gain in polish and complexity for twice as long."