The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon cuvee from Plumpjack’s Oakville ranch, where Nils Venge once made the famed Cabernet Sauvignons under the Villa Mt. Eden label. (The 1974s and 1978s are still going strong.) Floral notes intermixed with creme de cassis, white chocolate, plum, and licorice characteristics are followed by a wine with supple tannins, fabulous concentration, a multilayered mouthfeel, and a finish that lasts 40+ seconds. This incredible Cabernet can be drunk now or cellared for 20-25 years. Winemaker Tony Biagia continues to fashion prodigious wines for both the Getty family and its partner, San Francisco’s mayor, Gavin Newsom. The 2007s are the most impressive group of wines Plumpjack has released to date.Tel. (707) 945-1220; Fax (707) 944-0744

Aromas of berries, fresh herbs, and oak follow through to a full body with fine tannins and a solid core of fruit. A little tight now, but has it all. Give it another three to four years to open up. Pull the cork in 2014.

Made from the estate, in the center of Oakville, this fancy Cabernet is very ripe and oaky, and solidly in the opulent, flamboyant cult style. It floods the mouth with melted blackberries, cherries, raspberries, cocoa and sweet new oak, framed in tannins that are rich and refined. Bone dry, it’s a flashy wine to drink now, and will mature for a decade.——S.H.(4/1/2010)—— 92