2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Samantha's (Oakville)

These are without question the finest wines I have tasted from Rudd. Proprietor Leslie Rudd passed away earlier this year after a long battle with illness, but the estate appears to be in very good hands under the stewardship of Rudd's daughter, Samantha, and winemaker Frederick Ammons. Over the last few years, Ammons has sought to give the wines more finesse and nuance. The results of that work are evident in the 2016s, wines that are simply extraordinary. Ammons describes 2016 as a year with a balanced growing season that saw no meaningful heat spikes or rain events. In tasting, the wines, in my view, offer the freshness of 2014 with the power of 2015, a pretty appealing combination in my book. Readers should note that the Abel, which was formerly marketed under the Edge Hill label, is now part of the Rudd range, which makes sense given that it is a Cabernet Sauvignon-based Napa Valley wine. Speaking of Edge Hill, I did not taste any new releases from the property and its future seems less clear following Leslie Rudd's passing. But back to Rudd. For years, the estate has, frankly, struggled to find both a sense of identity and consistency in the wines. In 2016, Frederick Ammons crafted a set of truly memorable wines that bode extremely well for the future. Bravo!