2001 Larkmead Cabernet Sauvignon Estate

Led by proprietor Cam Baker and his top-flight winemaker, Andy Smith, this winery, which owns one of Napa Valley’s hallowed vineyards with more than a century of history, has been making spectacular wines over the last decade. The 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon tastes like a classic Pauillac (think Pontet-Canet) with its beautiful creme de cassis fruit, licorice, graphite and touch of smoky oak. Still primary and young, it has hardly budged since I tasted it right after bottling nearly eight years ago. Dense purple-hued with extraordinary aromatics that are unformed but impressively intense and pure, this full-bodied beauty needs another 7-10 years of cellaring and should keep well past . Tel. (707) 942-0167; Fax (707) 942-6934