Mayacamas, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Mt Veeder, 1975

Older Napa Cabernets can be spectacular—if you pick the right ones—and the 1975 vintage is a particular favourite of mine today: a cool, long growing season produced concentrated and beautifully balanced wines which have aged gracefully, in many cases surpassing the riper, headier 1974s which tended to overshadow them back in the day. The 1975 Mayacamas is an absolutely profound wine, with a youthfully saturated red-black hue which is truly defying the ages. A classic bouquet of black cherry, mountain laurel, petroleum jelly and cigar box is the prelude to a concentrated, full-bodied wine with a deep core of fruit, tannin and zesty acidity. Mayacamas under Bob Travers routinely produced some of the slowest to evolve of all Napa Cabernets, and this 1975 could still pass for a ten year old wine: decanting for several hours is warmly recommended.