2021 Pahlmeyer Red Blend Napa Valley

JS97 This gentle giant is the original Pahlmeyer red, first made in 1986. It’s always cabernet sauvignon dominant, and this year is 89%, plus 9% merlot and dashes of malbec and petit verdot. Lush with fruit and subtle spices, packed with blackcurrant, spearmint, cocoa and graphite flavors that swell on the palate and linger on the finish. So layered, intricate, supple and well structured for long aging. Drinkable now, but best from 2028.

WA96+ The components of the 2021 Proprietary Red barely changed relative to the barrel sample I tasted last year, with 61% of the fruit being estate grown (Stagecoach and Waters Ranch), with the remainder coming from Upper Range (35%) and Vangone (4%). Dominant scents of cassis mark the nose, joined by hints of dark chocolate, black cherries and pencil shavings. This full-bodied wine is firm and muscular but with enough baby fat that you could try one now if you had a big steak on hand. The lingering, dusty finish adds savory tones of black olive and dried herbs.

DEC96 lashy and fragrant aromatics of ripe blackberry fruit, graphite, tobacco, purple florals, herbs, and slivers of dark chocolate. Fabulously rich, dense dark black and blue fruit notes, tobacco leaf, and black olive atop a sea of ultra-fine velvety tannins. It’s a seamless red with no rough edges. Winemaker Katie Vogt blends the Cabernet and Merlot but waits to blend in the Malbec later, while 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc round out the cuvée. It’s aged in heavy toast Taransaud and Darnajou barrels for 18 months. Hillside sources include Waters, Upper Range, Stagecoach, and Vangone.