DANCING HARES VINEYARD Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

(Napa Valley, California) $150

Sometimes great cabernet sauvignon smells like Christmas itself…a hypnotic blend of fresh pine, cinnamon, winter air, and logs in the fireplace, plus the enticing smells of the kitchen–roasting meats, bread in the oven, red berries.  Dancing Hares’ red wine (a blend of cabernet, merlot and cabernet franc) is certainly evocative of all of these. But what makes the wine impressive and compelling is the contrast between its majestic structure and its velvet-like center. A soft hand within a starched glove. All great wines possess a “choreography” that’s slow, deep, and long. The Dancing Hares 2012 is a textbook example.

95 points