Vineyard 29 Aida Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

Including 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Aida Estate comes from a rocky site in St. Helena and spent 20 months in French oak. It's another gorgeously balanced, elegant, yet concentrated wine from this team that has classic notes of dark currants, blackberries, savory herbs, chocolate, and lead pencil. Building nicely with time in the glass, it's full-bodied and has a layered, elegant texture, plenty of tannins, and a great finish, all making for a captivating Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Give bottles 4-5 years if possible, and it's going to evolve for 25+ years or more.

Rich, broad and impressively saturated, this full-bodied wine from stony soil north of St. Helena floods the palate with überripe black fruits, mocha and bracing black currant, blackberry and blueberry flavors with well-integrated tannins for grip without grit. Made with just 2% Cabernet Franc, the wine has been fermented for 30 days in oak tanks and matured for 20 months in 80% new French barrels. Best 2026-2036.

A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Aida Estate has a deep garnet-purple color and flamboyant notes of stewed black and red plums, boysenberries and black currant cordial plus touches of bay leaves, tilled loam, charcoal and new leather. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is jam-packed with tightly knit black fruit and earthy layers, framed by firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and savory.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Aida Estate is a real head-turner. Inky and flamboyant to its core, the Aida jumps out of the glass. Inky dark fruit, blackberry jam, bittersweet chocolate, licorice, cloves and leather are all kicked up a few notches. The Aida is a rich, hedonistic Cabernet. I would give it a few years to shed some baby fat. In a word: impressive.