Wine Reviews

Cakebread’s 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Benchland Select blends five clones from two different vineyards to yield bold scents of black cherries, cassis and mocha but also some redder berries. It’s medium to full-bodied, edging just past 14% alcohol while still seeming generous and silky in feel, finishing long and harmonious, with a dusting of fine-grained tannins.

A fresh, dark- and blue-fruited character with violets, walnuts, cedar and crushed stone on the nose. Full-bodied, intense and juicy with vivid acidity and chalky tannins. Lengthy and broad with tension and persistence

All Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Benchland Select comes from both Rutherford and Oakville fruit and spent 22 months in 56% new French oak. This brings another level of precision and focus compared to the Suscol Springs, and the wine has a stunning array of black raspberries, spicy oak, lead pencil shavings, and exotic baking spice and floral nuances. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, and elegant, it has ultra-fine tannins, perfectly integrated background oak, and a great finish. It has plenty of structure and will benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age and should still be going strong at age 20.

Posh blueberry, mocha and cooked cherry flavors pack this velvety, rich 100% varietal wine from the first sniff through a lingering finish. The wine is impressively concentrated, yet soothingly soft in rich tannins and easy to enjoy now through 2035.

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Benchland Select spent 22 months in 57% new French oak, enough to impart the distinct scent of baked pastry crust to the otherwise pure aromas of cassis on the nose. It’s medium to full-bodied, supple and creamy in feel and expansive on the palate, with a lingering, mouthwatering finish that features just enough softly dusty tannins.