($195): Grgich’s 2010 Yountville Selection Cabernet Sauvignon is one of California’s grandest wines.  It reminds us why Napa Valley, and in this case, the Yountville region, is so revered for that grape.  The winemaking team, led by Mike Grgich’s nephew, Ivo Jeramaz, has hit the bull’s eye with this wine.  It speaks clearly of Yountville and Napa Valley, but it has an Old World sensibility of refinement and complexity.  Despite its 15.1% stated alcohol, it’s not all about power and muscle, although there’s no shortage of those elements.  It’s about grace and elegance. It explodes — more a gentle unfolding than a volcanic eruption — in the glass.  This extraordinary Cabernet grows in the glass with a broad-shouldered mixture of fruit intertwined seamlessly with earthy savory notes.  Amazingly, it’s intense, but not massive or overdone.  Everything comes together.  This wine is the epitome of balance and harmony. It’s a young wine, with decades to go before it true grandeur will be apparent, but it reminds me of what a wise Burgundy producer once told me, “Great wines always taste great regardless of their age.”  This is a great wine.
98 Michael Apstein Oct 14, 2014