Dark ruby to the rim. There’s a wonderful lightness to this wine, with gentle, feathery tannins that are undoubtedly present but nicely integrated at this stage, making room for secondary characters of blackcurrant fruit, star anise, cigar box, and dried spearmint. There’s real levity here, with wonderfully fresh and vibrant acidity and nuances of black truffle and rooibos tea on the finish. Long and lifted. Aged for 20 months in 62% new French oak and sourced from older vines (15+ years) planted on Cortina soils and tasted in early September 2024 at the Napa Valley Vintners in St. Helena, California, as part of a lineup showcasing Napa Valley’s 2014 vintage a decade on.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Dr. Olmo (100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 20 months in 60% new oak) is another awesome wine. Cedary spice, black cherries, currants, scorched earth and ample minerality all emerge from this full-bodied, expansive, structured wine that has sensational purity of fruit, ripe tannin, and a blockbuster finish. It has more structure and depth the most 2014s and will evolve gracefully for another two to three decades. Located north of Saint Helena and pulling all from their estate vineyard located around the winery, owner Cam Baker and winemaker Dan Petroski have produced some true superstars in 2015. These are ripe, full-bodied, majestic, yet structured wines that are going to age beautifully. There’s been a distinct stylistic shift with the 2016s, which were harvested far in advance of when most were harvesting, and the wines are certainly still beautiful, yet more tannic, backward, and angular. They’ll be beautiful wines, but certainly in a different style than previous vintages.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Dr. Olmo is holding back quite a bit of its potential. Dark cherry, smoke, licorice, tar and menthol give the Dr. Olmo much of its brooding personality. The tannins are quite firm, but that should be less of an issue as the wine won't be released for about a year.