2015 Lokoya, Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain District

Very deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain leaps from the glass with vibrant black currant cordial, blueberry and black cherry scents with touches of tree bark, black pepper, rose hip tea and violets. The medium to full-bodied palate has a solid structure of firm, chewy tannins supporting the muscular fruit, finishing with great freshness and plenty of latent depth. Give it another 2-3 years in bottle and drink it over the next 30+. 624 cases produced.

More backward and tight, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain comes from a handful of vineyards around 1,900 feet in elevation. While they have been buying fruit from Spring Mountain since 2003, the first vintage for this cuvee was 2005. This deeply colored 2015 reveals loads of floral and violet nuances as well as brilliantly pure blue fruits, graphite, and crushed rock characteristics. With building minerality, full-bodied richness, and an elegant, seamless, silky style on the palate, it needs 4-5 years of bottle age and will keep for 2+ decades. Made by winemaker Chris Carpenter and focusing all on Mountain terroirs, I find the wines from Lokoya to be some of the most compelling, singular, and awesome wines made in the Valley. Unfortunately, the prices are ridiculous and beyond the means of most, myself included.

At a time when many winemakers proclaim their Cabernets to be ready to drink on release and also ageworthy, Lokoya's Chris Carpenter is honest: his wines are made for collectors who will cellar them for a decade or more. This wine, from the Veeder Peak vineyard, is tannic and astringent now yet there's gorgeous blackberry and blackcurrant fruit at its core, with fresh acidity that will hold until the tannins resolve. 100% new French oak.