One of the flagship releases, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon 29 Estate comes from the estate vineyard in St. Helena and is 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, aged 20 months in 85% new French oak. It has a deep purple hue as well as a concentrated, full-bodied, masculine style that's very much in the vintage. Blackcurrant, scorched earth, chocolate, tobacco, and licorice notes all dominate the bouquet, but this puppy is closed, backward, and in need of 4-5 years of bottle age. It's loaded with potential, however, and has ripe tannins and a great mid-palate.

The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyard 29 is a powerful, brooding wine that is going to need at least a few years in bottle to be at its best, as the tannins are quite forbidding today. Hints of smoke, leather, licorice, menthol, black cherry and plum add to an impression of gravitas.