2014 Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon

Rating: 100
Drink: 2016-2038

The utterly perfect 2014 Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon (1,500 cases) has everything one could possibly want in a Cabernet. Inky purplecolored to the rim, with a glorious nose of white flowers, crème decassis, hints of blackberry and boysenberry, some licorice and forest floor are followed by an enormously concentrated wine with fabulous purity, a skyscraper-like mid-palate and texture, a length of nearly a minute, and stunning flavors, with flawless integration of acidity, tannin, wood and alcohol. This is a great, great wine and certainly one of the Cabernet Sauvignons of this vintage. Drink it over the next 25-30 or more years.

2014 M. Étain Cabernet Sauvignon

Rating: 94
Drink: 2016-2038

Celia Welch has hit a home run again with the legendary J.J. Cohn Vineyard in Rutherford, a site that includes a block of old vines planted in 1945, which certainly must make them some of the oldest Cabernet vines in all of Napa Valley. There are 2,000 cases of the 2014 Monsieur Etain, which is a great enough Cabernet by itself. Wonderfully pure crème de cassis notes with some white flowers, lead pencil shavings and incense are followed by a deep, full-bodied wine with silky tannins, a layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel and a beautiful finish of 40+ seconds. This is an exquisite, dense, rich but sexy Cabernet Sauvignon. And now for the good news – there are 2,000 cases of it. Drink it over the next 20 or more years.