Lail's 2021 J. Daniel Cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon blends lots from several high-end vineyards, including Heimark (Calistoga), Vine Hill Ranch (Oakville) and Steltzner (Stags Leap), plus Lail's own Mole Hill on Howell Mountain. It's an exciting wine, starting from the pulse-quickening aromas of raspberries and black cherries tinged with dark chocolate. In the mouth, this full-bodied beauty is richly concentrated, with a sensuous texture somewhere between silky and velvety, while the softly dusty finish shows terrific length and a spine-tingling hint of licorice. To reduce this wine to deceptively simple yet hard-to-pin-down words, it's complex, harmonious and elegant, yet it's enough of its place that it could only come from Napa Valley.

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon J. Daniel Cuvee is just about pure perfection and another example of Napa Valley magic. All Cabernet Sauvignon brought up in 80% new French oak, it offers an incredible bouquet of pure cassis and blackberry fruits as well as textbook Pauillac-like notes of graphite, tobacco, toasted spices, and chalky minerality. Rich, full-bodied, and powerful, it’s one of those wines that somehow marries incredible intensity and richness with no sensation of weight or heaviness, perfect balance, and a layered, multi-dimensional style that’s hard to describe. It shows more tannins and chocolaty oak with air and needs to be forgotten for 4-6 years, and it will be a 40+-year wine. It’s heavenly juice.

Marking the producer's 25th anniversary, this is a tremendous powerhouse of a wine that's sinewy, sophisticated and youthfully shy. Rich truffle, cassis and black cherry meet undeniable earthiness and savory spice, with a touch of plushness on the palate that's still gripped in tannin. Enjoy 2029-2039.

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon J. Daniel Cuvee is a total knock-out. Deep, vertical and explosive, the 2019 possesses tremendous vertical intensity and tons of sheer class. Inky dark fruit, graphite cloves, licorice and sweet French oak infuse the 2019 with tremendous complexity to complement its sheer opulence. Vineyard sites are Vine Hill Ranch, Heimark, Stelzner and Mole Hill. The 2019 is one of the best editions ever.