My favorite of the 2014s was the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Lotus Vineyard. This site lies at the base of Howell Mountain and is a steep, hillside vineyard. Straight-up awesome notes of red and black fruits, dried flowers, spice, and lead pencil shavings all flow to a full-bodied, powerful 2014 that has no hard edges, perfect balance between its fruit, tannins, and acidity, and a finish that won't quit. It's up with the crème de la crème of the vintage and will cruise for 20-25 years or more.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Lotus Vineyard is truly one of the profound wines of the vintage. Aged 24 months in 90% new French oak, it is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from their most precocious and earliest-to-ripen Cabernet site. Dense blue/purple, as are the other wines, it separates itself with its extraordinarily flowery, blueberry and blackberry-scented aromatics. The wine is dense and multidimensional, full-bodied and opulent, with low acidity and fabulous silky, pure fruit. This wine is best drunk over the next two decades. Production of the Lotus single-vineyard is the smallest, at 250 cases.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Lotus Vineyard is another wine that has fleshed out very nicely over the last year. All of the signatures of this site are very much in evidence. Silky tannins and creamy, voluptuous fruit are front and center. A wine of tremendous exoticness and sheer appeal, the 2014 will drink well pretty much right out of the gate. A rush of sweet red cherry, plum, mocha and spice builds into the beautifully polished, refined finish. What a gorgeous wine this is.