Long Meadow Ranch, Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, California 2016 (750mL)

The 2016 Long Meadow Ranch Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is 60% from their high-elevation Mayacamas Estate and 40% from their Rutherford estate, all of it Certified Organic. It spends 18 months in 50% new, 50% neutral barrels, and it’s a textbook lesson in refined modern Cabernet. It pours a deep, near-opaque purple with a magenta rim. Give this a half-hour decant and the nose soars with crème de cassis, plum liqueur, blueberry, cedar, clove, tobacco leaf, and fresh violets. It’s lush and strutting on the palate but maintains a core of elegance and freshness thanks to the mountain fruit. Herbal tones like sage and rosemary come to the fore, and near-jammy dark fruits close out the finish. It’s friendly and accessible and modern, but also classic and honest, the prominent tannins hinting at the long life ahead.