California

97 Points! Lots of classic darker, herbal notes define the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard, a rich, medium to full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon from winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown. With air, more chocolate, espresso, and spice notes emerge from the glass, and this medium to full-bodied, textured, ripe, yet also elegant 2019 is going to drink brilliantly for another 20 years or so. - Jeb Dunnuck

97+ Points! Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Missouri Hopper is a little youthfully mute to begin, slowly revealing evocative crème de cassis, blueberry pie, chocolate box and black tea notes with nuances of forest floor, wild sage and crushed rocks. Full-bodied and packed to the gills with black fruits and earthy layers, it has a firm, grainy frame and just enough freshness, finishing with epic persistence. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com

97 Points! Pouring an opaque red, the 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Au Paradis is lush and refined with aromas of cassis, espresso, violets, and sweet tobacco. Full-bodied, this refined profile continues on the palate, with a ripe, velvety texture, fine tannins, and notes of black cherry liqueur and mocha, as well as floral oils that last long on the palate without feeling heavy. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

97 Points! Hailing from Oakville, the 2019 Au Paradis is nuanced, with ripe redcurrant, fresh tobacco, and sweet baking spice. The palate is fully dry and has lift through its dark fruited profile. The midpalate is flush with roses and ripe red plum, giving way to a well-balanced, tannic structure. Drink 2024-2044. - Jeb Dunnuck

98 Points! Coming from Oakville, the 2018 Au Paradis gives up a deep ruby/purple hue as well as full-bodied aromas and flavors of blackcurrants, green tobacco, lead pencil, sandalwood, and dried flowers. Flawlessly balanced, full-bodied, with silky yet present tannins, it's one of those elegant, seamless wines that surprise you with its richness and depth. It reminds me of a great vintage from Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou and is a brilliant, elegant, complex Cabernet that will evolve for two decades or more. - Jeb Dunnuck

98 Points! Coming from Oakville, the 2018 Au Paradis gives up a deep ruby/purple hue as well as full-bodied aromas and flavors of blackcurrants, green tobacco, lead pencil, sandalwood, and dried flowers. Flawlessly balanced, full-bodied, with silky yet present tannins, it's one of those elegant, seamless wines that surprise you with its richness and depth. It reminds me of a great vintage from Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou and is a brilliant, elegant, complex Cabernet that will evolve for two decades or more. - Jeb Dunnuck

98 Points! A 60-40 blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot, the 2021 Proprietary Red Wine Sugarloaf Mountain exudes sensual aromas of mocha and black cherries underscored by gentle hints of tobacco and sage. Full-bodied, plush and supple, with a long, softly dusty finish, this makes a compelling argument for non-Cabernet Sauvignon wines in Napa. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

97+ Points! Gorgeous blue fruits, mountain scrub brush, sage, espresso, black raspberry, and violet notes all emerge from the 2021 Proprietary Red Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot that's full-bodied and has terrific overall balance, building, fine-grained tannins, and a good spine of acidity that carries through the finish. This is another gorgeous wine in the lineup that shines for its complexity, balance, and depth. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! This voluptuous, full-bodied and sleek wine is layered in luxurious blue and black fruits that saturate the palate while superfine tannins shape the middle and finish. Mint and floral notes accent the gorgeous fruits. A truly impressive mountain wine that punches way above its price range. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! A combination of Wente and Calera clones, the 2022 Chardonnay Cuvée Susan Hyde Vineyard features scents of crushed stone, struck flint and a hint of pencil shavings, in addition to fruity notes of melon, pear and pineapple. It's medium to full-bodied in the mouth, plump and even a bit custardy-oily, then finishes long and creamy. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

100 Points! Lail's 2021 J. Daniel Cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon blends lots from several high-end vineyards, including Heimark (Calistoga), Vine Hill Ranch (Oakville) and Steltzner (Stags Leap), plus Lail's own Mole Hill on Howell Mountain. It's an exciting wine, starting from the pulse-quickening aromas of raspberries and black cherries tinged with dark chocolate. In the mouth, this full-bodied beauty is richly concentrated, with a sensuous texture somewhere between silky and velvety, while the softly dusty finish shows terrific length and a spine-tingling hint of licorice. To reduce this wine to deceptively simple yet hard-to-pin-down words, it's complex, harmonious and elegant, yet it's enough of its place that it could only come from Napa Valley. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

98+ Points Jeb Dunnuck's Wine of the Year! One of the finest wines in the vintage, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon J. Daniel Cuvee is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Dutch Henry Canyon area in Calistoga, Vine Hill Ranch in Oakville, and Stelzner in Stags Leap (which was added in 2018). It spent 20 months in 75% new French oak. Still tight and inward, it has sensational purity in its currant, mulberry, truffly earth, graphite, and leather aromatics. These carry to a full-bodied, rich, incredibly concentrated 2021 that has the vintage’s fresher, focused style, ripe tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish. It's going to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and evolve for a quarter of a century. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! This distinctive version is rich and ripe, as well as lively and zesty, with a burst of blueberry, raspberry and black currant flavors that mesh nicely with a vibrant set of sweet bay leaf, violet and sassafras notes. The fruit and savory sides race through the finish, where a subtle iron note emerges. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. - Wine Spectator

94 Points! The 2005 The Tempest (52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 18% Petit Verdot) offers attractive aromas of blueberry jam, cassis, and a creamy, espresso/chocolatey character. This opulent, round, hedonistic, voluptuously-textured, super-pure 2005 will provide pleasure over the next 12-15 years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

94 Points! Smooth and polished, with detailed flavors of ripe plum, black cherry, spice and light oak, this pedigreed red turns rich and elegant, with a long, complex aftertaste. - Wine Spectator

98 Points! The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is showing even better than it did last year, which is not unusual when tasting the wines of Todd Anderson and Mac Sawyer. Dense ruby/purple to the rim, with the classic Pauillac-like nose of creme de cassis, cedar wood, a hint of tobacco leaf, and very subtle smoke, the wine displays charcoal and roasted herbs, full-bodied power, wonderfully sweet tannins, and a long, long finish. This is a 20- to 25-year wine that should just get better and better as it ages, but it is accessible enough to drink now. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

98+ Points! Coming just about all from the Ecotone Vineyard (there's a splash of Georges III in here), the 100% Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Mysterons is deep purple-hued, with an insanely good bouquet of red and black fruits, iron, bloody meat, and graphite, and it turns slightly more floral and violet-tinged with air. Classic, quintessential 2021 Napa Valley magic, it's full-bodied and has tons of obvious minerality, a stacked mid-palate, and enough tannins to warrant 5-7 years of bottle age. It will most likely merit a perfect rating at maturity. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Blueprint comes from multiple vineyards across the Napa Valley but draws most heavily upon Rutherford. The separate lots are blended after approximately 12 months in barrel, then allowed to marry for a few months prior to bottling. Fruit-forward scents of blueberries, cassis and black cherries mark the nose, while the balanced, medium to full-bodied palate is silky, fine and elegant, with just the right amount of ripe, savory tannins on the finish. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

93 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Blueprint is brilliant, and readers looking for a great Cabernet Sauvignon under $100 should snatch up bottles. Cassis, blackberries, chocolate, spice, and graphite notes all define the bouquet, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a layered, seamless mouthfeel and a great finish. - Jeb Dunnuck

100 Points! The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Poetry is a blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it sails out of the glass with energetic scents of fresh blackcurrants, black cherries and black raspberries, plus hints of candied violets, dark chocolate, clove oil and fragrant earth. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is exquisitely fine-knitted with tons of graceful nuances intertwined with the many shades of black fruits, accented by SO MANY minerals, finishing epically long and staggeringly gorgeous. WOW! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com

93 Points! A blend of 77% Malbec and 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2021 Ilaria Malbec has a deep garnet-purple color. It needs a fair bit of swirling to unlock powerful notes of plum preserves, chocolate-covered cherries, and lilacs, leading to suggestions of clove oil and fallen leaves. The full-bodied palate is jam-packed with bright, energetic black fruits and captivating floral sparks, framed by velvety tannins and lovely tension, finishing with great persistence. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

94 Points! Coming mostly from the Dr. Reid Vineyard in Coombsville, the 2021 Malbec is based on 77% Malbec and 23% Cabernet Sauvignon. A smoking wine, it offers juicy black cherry and blueberry fruits as well as some tobacco, chocolate, and graphite nuances. Medium to full-bodied, with ripe tannins, balance, and a great finish, it's a gorgeous wine. - Jeb Dunnuck

99 Points! The 2019 Estate Red is another magical wine from winemaker Sam Kaplan. Based on 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, and the rest Merlot and Malbec, all from the estate on Howell Mountain, it offers up a dense purple hue to go with stunningly pure cassis and darker currant fruits, full-bodied richness, ultra-fine tannins, and a complex, nuanced style in its leafy herbs, flowers, scorched earth, and classy oak aromas and flavors. It’s brilliant any way you look at it. Hide bottles for 4-5 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following three decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

98 Points! Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon bursts with open-knit, expressive scents of black cherry compote, warm cassis, and cinnamon toast with nuances of clove oil, roses, and dark chocolate. The full-bodied palate is rich, plush, seamless, layered, long, and decadent. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

97 Points! A gorgeous wine from Chris Phelps, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Sleeping Lady Vineyard sports a dense purple hue as well as awesome aromatics of cassis, violets, flowers, and spicy oak. It’s young and unevolved, with medium to full-bodied richness, silky tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish. It ranks with the finest wines I’ve tasted from this vineyard. All Cabernet aged 20 months in 70% new French oak, it has two decades or more of prime drinking ahead of it. - Jeb Dunnuck