Ramey Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

This wine vastly overdelivers on its price point-a rarity in its category and peers. Made from grapes throughout the appellation, the majority from St. Helena, it blends in small amounts of Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cab Franc. Turned earth, pungent tobacco leaf and currant define its savory, substantially structured elegance that offers room to age.

The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon also contains 8% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 2% Malbec and 2% Cabernet Franc and was aged 28 months in 48% new French oak. Deep ruby in color, it has very pure, layered aromas of raspberry and cherry preserves with notes of cardamom, aniseed and rose petals. The full-bodied palate is intensely layered and perfumed, seamless and long. It's an elegant rendition of an appellation-wide Cabernet Sauvignon from what can be a rich, powerful vintage in Napa. 7,085 cases produced.

This is a lively and engaging Cab, brimming with damson plum, red currant and bitter cherry fruit, liberally laced with sassafras, red tea and juniper accents. Fresh and open-knit through the finish. Drink now through 2027. 7,085 cases made.

I was able to taste two Cabernets from Ramey. Starting with the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, which comes from Napa, it offers textbook, slightly old-school Cabernet notes of blackcurrants, black cherries, sweet tobacco, cedar, and chocolate. It doesn't pull any punches on the palate and is ripe, medium to full-bodied, and beautifully textured, with a dense mid-palate, yet it brings good freshness, notable structure, and a great finish. It will keep for 15 years or more.

The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) is a soft, fruity wine to drink now and over the next handful of years. Sweet dried cherry, tobacco, spice, mint and leather give this mid-weight Cabernet lovely aromatic nuance to match its mid-weight personality.