Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2020

Founded in 1889, Mayacamas stands as one of the most storied vineyards in the history of American wine. Through its more than 125 years of production, the estate has been the source of some of California’s most iconic and longest-lived bottles. Renowned for its high altitude vineyards, which provide for a cooler growing environment than valley floor sites, Mayacamas has long stood as the antithesis of the big, flashy Cali Cabs that dominated the 1990s and 2000s. Subtle and elegant, this is a wonderfully detailed and nuanced wine loaded with wild flower aromatics and dark mountain berry fruit. In a word: superb.

95/100 - Youthful, compressed and vital with a lovely concentration of blackcurrant fruit. Rich and layered. There’s a sweet core of fruit here, with nice texture and tension. Ripe and delicious, but there’s substantial structure under the sweet fruit. A beautiful wine with a long life ahead of it. - Dr. Jamie Goode, WineAnorak 

92+/100 - The grapes for Mayacamas's 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested between September 5th and 16th, well before the Glass Fire. To mitigate any possible smoke exposure from the LNU Complex Fires, the fruit was rinsed, maceration times were shortened, and the press wine was kept separate (and ultimately mostly bulked out). The results speak for themselves, as the wine offers up clean cassis, cherries and blueberries, plus hints of sage and cracked pepper. It's medium to full-bodied and firmly built, with dusty tannins on the finish. - Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate

94/100 - The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the wines of this very challenging harvest. Dark and imposing, the 2020 is packed with black fruit, cloves, leather, menthol, chocolate and dried herbs. This is an especially dense, potent Cabernet. There is some aggressiveness to the tannins, but that is the vintage. Overall, this is impeccably done, especially within the context of the year. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous 

95/100 - A creamy texture surrounds pretty floral and black fruit flavors in this elegant, poised wine. It escaped the vintage's smoke effects, and offers pure blackcurrant and black cherry flavors that expand on the palate and linger in the finish. Medium- to full-bodied. Made from 100% cabernet sauvignon. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now but best from 2029. - Jim Gordon, JamesSuckling.com