2022 Cabernet Sauvignon / 94 Points / Tasting Panel

Medium purple color. Deep but tart aromas of blueberry and black cherries, with complex, deep and spicy tones: tar, mocha, sage, sweet red pepper, black pepper and balsamic glaze. The palate is full but smooth and, like the others, this wine’s acidity is really nice. Tangy plums and juicy black currant fruit blends well with leather, paprika, black pepper, spicy tobacco, mint. A lot going on, and I’d like to see this in five or six years. Cab Sauv with 2% Petit Verdot, aged in 100% French oak.

Garnet red. Ripe dark red berry and plum with vanilla and cedar show on the nose. Richer and fuller than the 2008 vintage, it’s softer on the attack with more notable ripeness than the 2010. Attractive cedary spice is married to spicy huckleberry, plum and cassis on the palate. There are fine firm tannins on the finish.

The wine on the eyes was a deep purple and red brick in color with a medium viscosity. On the nose aromas waft into the olfactory senses bringing raspberries, blackberries and floral aromatics. On the palate, it opens up to a juicy fruit assortment of black cherry and hint of pipe tobacco. The finish is medium, but intriguing are the soft and rounded tannins for what is smelled as a big bold red wine.

This annual post looks back at all the wines I wrote about in the previous year and singles out 50 that I thought were great wines. “Great” doesn’t necessarily imply the most profound, though several of these are as profound as wine gets; nor does it necessarily mean that these are the world’s famed wines intended for laying down in cellars for long aging. I don’t usually encounter such wines anyway.

This full-bodied wine brings together flavors of black cherry and black olive, with substantial spiciness from oak and moderate tannins for a lip-smacking texture. Hints of vanilla, cedar and clove accompany the black fruit notes, adding complexity and interest.