Lail "J. Daniel Cuvee" Cabernet Sauvignon

Lail's 2021 J. Daniel Cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon blends lots from several high-end vineyards, including Heimark (Calistoga), Vine Hill Ranch (Oakville) and Steltzner (Stags Leap), plus Lail's own Mole Hill on Howell Mountain. It's an exciting wine, starting from the pulse-quickening aromas of raspberries and black cherries tinged with dark chocolate. In the mouth, this full-bodied beauty is richly concentrated, with a sensuous texture somewhere between silky and velvety, while the softly dusty finish shows terrific length and a spine-tingling hint of licorice. To reduce this wine to deceptively simple yet hard-to-pin-down words, it's complex, harmonious and elegant, yet it's enough of its place that it could only come from Napa Valley.

From partners Robin Daniel Lail, Erin Lail, and Shannon Lail, this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from Calistoga, Howell Mountain, Oakville, and Stags Leap District vineyards and aged 20 months in 75% new French oak and crafted by Philippe Melka and Maayan Koschitzky. The appellations shine through in this full-bodied wine. Heimark vineyard grapes from Calistoga deliver plump, juicy, black cherry, blueberry, and blackberry fruits. Stelzner vineyard from Stags Leap District layers in ironstone minerality, which resonates on the nose and palate, laced with Oakville herbs and toasty spices from Vine Hill Ranch, supported by mighty Mole Hill vineyard Howell Mountain tannins that are ripe, assertive, and beautifully pixelated. Notes of rich cedarwood, bitter dark chocolate, and espresso bean round out a balanced expression of Napa Cabernet.

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon J. Daniel Cuvée is exceptional. Inky, vibrant and beautifully savory, the 2021 is one of the best editions I can remember tasting. The 2021 is a blend from Vine Hill Ranch, Heimark, Mole Hill and Steltzner, a combination that works so well. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, graphite and spice build into the super-expressive finish. The move toward greater freshness over these last few years has really paid off. I especially admire the precision here. This is an archetype for contemporary Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.