($69): This wine shows the beauty of Napa Valley Cabernet.  Not bigger, but just a more muscular style of Cabernet Sauvignon than is the norm, the 2013 Grgich Hills Estate Cabernet Sauvignon has extraordinary finesse.  It’s truly an iron fist in a velvet glove.  It conveys a gorgeous minerality, almost a hint of tarriness wrapped with supple, fine tannins.  It has a Pauillac-like power for those who like comparisons with Bordeaux.  But, indeed, this is Napa Valley Cabernet at its best with plenty of dark fruit and herbal flavors to enhance its mineral-like feel.  Long and balanced, Grgich Hills Estate has created the paradox of a wine that is delicious for drinking now with a lamb chops, but will evolve and develop beautiful over the next decade or two.
96 Michael Apstein Aug 16, 2016