CLIFF LEDE VINEYARDS Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

(Stags Leap District, Napa Valley) $75

This stunning wine exhibits all of cabernet’s paradoxes. How can it be powerful, yet refined at the same time?  How can it be delicious now and yet built to last? How can it be rich yet not heavy? How can it be so masculine yet so feminine? The 2012 vintage in Napa Valley produced a slew of phenomenal cabernets and this one from Cliff Lede is one of them. Best of all is the wine’s choreography–the way it moves–on the palate: a slow, measured unfolding. Irresistible.