Press & Updates
2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Block Three / 92 Pts / International Wine Review
More elegant than blockbuster, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is our favorite of the three vintages we tasted. The bouquet is redolent of dark cassis complemented by notes of earth and underbrush. There’s a lovely, silky texture to the mouthfilling palate and nice integration of blackberry fruit and toasted oak. The tannins are still youthful but ripe. A wine that will only improve with a couple of years bottle age.
2008 Cabernet Sauvignon / 90 Pts / International Wine Review
The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon shows earth and dark red berries on the nose. It’s a bit lighter in weight with less fruit than the younger vintages of this wine, but it’s well balanced with firm, round tannins. Fruit and oak are well integrated, and it’s drinking nicely now.
2009 Cabernet Sauvignon / 92 Pts / International Wine Review
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.
2010 Cabernet Sauvignon / 94 points / International Wine Review
Medium dark garnet. This is by far our favorite of the 2008-2010 Library Reserve Trio. It has an enticing, multifaceted nose of cassis, sweet oak, and a hint of forest floor. The palate has a velvet texture and is densely flavored and elegant with fine-grained tannins. Still a youthful wine with a long life ahead.
2013 Cabernet Sauvignon / 90+ / International Wine Review
Showing a multifaceted bouquet of dark red fruit and earthy tobacco, the 2013 Cab is a bit lighter than the 2016 vintage, but it offers lots of sweet dark fruit flavors accompanied by notes of pepper and tobacco. There’s well integrated oak and a persistent finish with solid tannins. A great steak wine.
2014 Cabernet / 91 points / International Wine Review
Offering an earthy, herbal bouquet with black and red currant notes that carry over to the full bodied palate. There’s good acidity and freshness, nicely concentrated black currant and licorice flavors and well integrated oak. Finishes with fine, round tannins.
2015 Cabernet Sauvignon / 92 / International Wine Review
Saturated ruby. The bouquet reveals explosive cassis and cedar aroma. The palate is silky and dense with sweet, expansive dark fruit flavors and a light earthy note. Well focused and tightly structured with still firm tannins finishing with lingering rich dark red fruit notes.
2016 Cabernet / 92 points / International Wine Review
More elegant than blockbuster, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is an excellent wine. The bouquet is redolent of dark cassis complemented by notes of earth and underbrush. There’s a lovely, silky texture to the mouth filling palate and nice integration of blackberry fruit and toasted oak. The tannins are still youthful but ripe. A wine that will only improve with a couple of years bottle age.
2014 Latigo / 93 Pts / Wine Enthusiast
This beautiful Port-style dessert wine offers tempting, concentrated black-fruit flavors accented by flower and orange-peel notes. It is quite sweet and full in weight, feeling smooth and just a touch tannic in texture. Best through 2030.
2015 Cabernet Sauvignon / 90 / Wine Enthusiast
This immense wine is wrapped tightly in tannins, holding the black currant and black cherry flavors firmly in check while a drying sensation puckers the palate. It has good focus and concentration underneath all that, which bodes well for aging.
2016 Block Three / 93 Pts / Cellar Selection / Wine Enthusiast
This impressive and well-balanced wine is concentrated in a delicious black-fruit flavor, with a softly tannic, velvety texture that’s seductive. Layers of pure blueberry, black cherry and dark chocolate are wrapped in a creamy mouthfeel.
2009 Cabernet a Great Wine in Fredric Koeppel’s look back at 2020
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.