Scarecrow's inky/purple-colored 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is a prodigious effort. It reveals a liqueur of crushed rocks intermixed with a smorgasbord of spring flower, blueberry, creme de cassis, and assorted blue, black, and red fruit characteristics. It also possesses extraordinary concentration, but what sets it apart is the fragrant aromatics combined with uncommon purity and elegance for such a full-bodied, massively concentrated wine. Its perfect balance suggests it can be drunk at a relatively young age, but it should easily evolve over 30-35 years. Congratulations to all involved!

Bright medium ruby. Strongly mineral aromas of black raspberry, cassis, dark chocolate, licorice and menthol, plus a whiff of Rutherford dust. Then silky, sexy and concentrated, with compelling inner-mouth perfume to the red and black fruit flavors complicated by loam and minerals. Very light on its feet. There's an essentially gentle character to this wine but also sneaky intensity, excellent grip and a serious spine for aging. The very rich, mineral-driven finish offers substantial but utterly sweet tannins and lovely lingering perfume. There's very little raisining at this site in Rutherford as the fairly rich soils have good moisture-holding capacity and the hills to the west block the late-afternoon sun. A beauty now, but it would be a shame not to give this some time to blossom in the bottle.

Mature and softening a bit, with mocha, licorice, espresso, dark berry, cedar and dried herb notes. Offers a complex mix of flavors, ending with firm, chewy tannins. -- Blind 1997/2007 California Cabernet retrospective (January 2017). Drink now through 2024. 1,000 cases made.