Generations Cabernet Sauvignon Reviews

92 points

Excellent, Highly Recommended
Stately and elegant nose of cassis, black currant, brown spice, tobacco, and cedar. Bold, meaty tannins frame unctuous black cherry, tar, dried violet, and olive tapenade flavors and a mouth-coating, lasting finish ensues. A beautiful, classic California Cabernet.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Generations tends to be a mix of four vineyards, two in St. Helena, one in Oakville and one in east Napa. It is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and was bottled unfined and unfiltered, after spending 19 months in 60% new French oak. Production is a modest 1,600+ cases. A brilliant wine from Boisset, it exhibits notes of blackberry and cassis, truffle, chocolate and spice bow. Layered and multidimensional with terrific opulence and purity, this is a “wow” wine, and while drinkable now, capable of evolving for 20 or more years.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Generations is a wine that comes from both St. Helena and Oakville and is 99% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the balance Petit Verdot. This beauty showcases how much Jean Charles Boisset has improved the quality of the Raymond wines. There are 2,112 cases of this wine, which has an inky purple color and a beautiful nose of licorice, toasty oak, blackberry, cassis, spice box and forest floor. The wine has great intensity, a full-bodied mouthfeel, terrific balance, and well-integrated acidity, tannin, alcohol and wood. It should drink well for 25-30+ years. 

 

Lavishly oaked, exhibiting a strong mix of mocha, espresso and smoke notes. The fruit holds its own, with dense blueberry, blackberry, black licorice, tobacco leaf and savory roasted herb flavors, ending with a long, full, sustained aftertaste. — J.L.

A blend of 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Petit Verdot, this wine speaks to power, offering juicy, velvety texture around brawny components of leather, coffee and black plum. Concentrated and intense, it needs time to open in the glass before pairing with thick cuts of meat.  — V.B.

Opulent and intense, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Generations is quite powerful, with huge, inky fruit and searing tannins. This is an especially deep, extracted Cabernet, but it has also just been bottled. It will be interesting to see how the 2013 develops. Today, it is almost forbiddingly intense, yet there is plenty of stuffing lurking beneath. - Antonio Galloni

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon comes across as quite polished and nuanced, with lovely brightness, tension and energy. Dark red and bluish fruit, spices, mint, licorice and sweet spices are some of the signatures. Today, the 2014 is quite impressive. - Antonio Galloni

The outstanding 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Generations is a blend of 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petit Verdot. It reveals a dense purple color as well as lots of licorice, blackcurrant, tobacco leaf and crème de cassis characteristics. Opulent, full-bodied, fleshy and succulent, it should drink well for 10-15 years. – Robert Parker

Made from various St. Helena vineyards, with some additions from eastern Oakville, it expresses all the beauty of Napa Valley Cab. The flavors of blackberries, black currants, chocolate, licorice and smoky cedar are absolutely delicious. Yet the wine possesses structure, not the easiest to achieve with a 100% Cabernet this rich. 

Aromas and flavors of terracotta, walnuts and ripe fruits follow through to a full body, with soft tannins and a round-textured finish. Lovely mouthfeel in this early-drinking cab.

Good dark red-ruby. Sexy aromas of blackberry, mocha, coffee and minerals. Sweet, bright and classically dry, showing lovely definition and perfume to its musky blackberry and mineral flavors. Tannins are a touch dry but I like this laid-back style. Ultimately more complex than the 2010.

Bright medium ruby. High-toned, very primary aromas of blueberry, licorice and menthol. Densely packed but not yet particularly sweet, with sexy mineral lift to the black fruit flavors. The largest-scaled of these three vintages and evolving quite slowly. The fruit comes from western St. Helena and the eastern side of Oakville and includes some clone 337 for the first time.

Bright medium ruby. Cassis, licorice and crushed rock on the nose, lifted by a violet topnote. Suave and varietally accurate, with good inner-mouth energy and lift to the dark berry and fresh herb flavors. Finishes with serious tannins and lingering sweet berry fruit. Raymond is now under the Boisset Family Estates umbrella following its purchase by Jean-Charles Boisset in August of 2009. Boisset, who also has a major presence in Burgundy, told me he looks for refined wines--"almost in a pinot style." Philippe Melka is in charge of winemaking here.

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Generations looks to be the finest wine made at Raymond in many years. It boasts a deep ruby/purple color along with notes of graphite, subtle charcoal, asphalt and background oak. Deep and full-bodied with terrific fruit intensity, this beauty should drink well for 15 or more years. Much in keeping with this vintage, it is upfront and intense.

The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Generations is an homage to the five generations of the Raymond family that began making wines in Napa Valley in 1876. Its deep ruby/plum color is followed by abundant notes of black currants, a sweet core of fruit, medium to full body, ripe tannins and dusty, loamy notes. Enjoy this excellent Cabernet over the next 15 years.

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Generations is slightly green with herbal undertones. Spicy and peppery with red and black currant fruit, soft tannin and very good balance, it’s the herbaceous character that kept my score low. Some readers may enjoy this more than I did.

Shows striking intensity, density, focus and layers of flavor, with tiers of mocha, blackberry, mineral, black licorice and melted chocolate. The finish sails on, retaining focus and persistence.

A flashy wine—dry and rich and dense— that manages to be drinkable now, yet also ageable. The flamboyant black currant, chocolate, spice and oak flavors are delicious, and while the tannins are pretty strong, they’re finely ground, giving the wine a nice grittiness. This blend will age well through 2020.

Shows striking intensity, density, focus and layers of flavor, with tiers of mocha, blackberry, mineral, black licorice and melted chocolate. The finish sails on, retaining focus and persistence.