The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, is a relatively powerful statement from the new owners. Dense ruby/purple in color, with an exceptional nose of crème de cassis, a touch of mulberry and spice. The oak is completely obscured by the lavish, concentrated, ripe fruit and multi-dimensional mid-palate that expands beautifully, but with no sense of heaviness. The wine is rich and full-bodied, but with velvety tannin and stunning purple and black fruits. This is a beauty, with savoriness that’s hard to articulate. The finish goes on for a good 45+ seconds. This is a beauty that’s velvety, opulent and capable of drinking well now or in 25 to 30+ years. Drink 2016-2046.

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #222, Dec 2015)

(the new team here recently finalized the blend): Bright ruby. High-pitched floral and medicinal notes perk up aromas of blackberry and cassis. Densely packed and sweet, but with a delightfully sappy quality and juicy, integrated acidity enlivening the middle palate. Sugar and phenolic ripeness were neck-and-neck at the time of the 2012 harvest, noted winemaker Nigel Kinsman. Very intense, long wine with noble tannins taking a back seat to the fruit today.

This vintage was apparently blended under the aegis of new director Frédéric Engerer of Ch Latour. It is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon for the first time since 1991 and 1992. The nose is already a miracle of subtlety and gorgeousness. Sweet and mineral, it has particularly refined tannins. Very sophisticated. (JR)

100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Farmed organic, certified by COF, and biodynamic, certified by Demeter. Vinified by the Araujo team and then blended by the new Eisele team directed by Mingot. The first 100% Cabernet Sauvignon since the early 1990s. More shy on both aromatics and palate than the Altagracia wines or the 2013 Eisele. Red fruit and spiced notes with very fine, beautiful tannin. Lovely sapidity and balancing acidity with a wash of spice all the way through a long finish. A sweet core of fruit flavour reflects the generosity of the vintage. The impressive structure of the site still shows here but the fruit dominates it slightly. There is more interest in oak, and less apparent freshness here in the 2012 than in the 2013, though this is still a nicely honed wine, reflecting not just the vintage contrast but also the shift in winemaking. The baby fat of 2012 will likely fall away with a bit of age. (ECB)