With hard tannins that shut down the mouth’s basic tasting function, this Cabernet feels tough and resistant now. Yet it has a fantastically intense core of blackberry and black currant fruit whose sweetness is grounded with a tug of minerals. Classic young Diamond Creek, it needs at least eight years in the cellar, and should develop well beyond that. ——S.H.(12/1/2011)—— 93

This baby Cabernet plays tricks on the palate, showing appealing soft, delicious complexity, then retreating into a cloak of tannins, and then emerging again with sweet fruit and spice. It’s bone dry, although the cherries and blackberries show a baked-into-the-pie caramelized sweetness. Give this bottle a good six years in the cellar, and it should continue to evolve for far longer. ——S.H.(3/1/2011)—— 92