2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Ranch

The 2018s and 2019s from Detert are the best I have ever tasted here. Both years offer a striking combination of power, richness and energy. Part of that is of course the nature of the vintages, 2018 in particular, but there is little doubt that a move towards bottling earlier than in the past has paid off big time. Two thousand eighteen was a late-ripening vintage with big berries that required a bit of bleeding in the cellar. In 2019, the growing season was marked by a few heat spikes, but in tasting the wines convey a bit more depth and vibrancy, at least in the early going. As good as the 2018s and 2019s are, my impression is that the best is yet to come given that ten out of the eighteen acres were replanted in 2015, while additional diseased plants were replaced in 2012.