Reviews

Aromas of smoked meat and spice give way to black cherry, earth and stony mineral flavors in this dense, powerful red. The tannins are dominant for now, but there is freshness and a long, complex finish that reveals promise for the future.

This is intense, starting out on the elegant side and building slowly to attain greater density and power. Spice, raspberry and cherry flavors form the center, with a layer of chalk and stone underneath. Shows fine concentration and balance, delivering a long, minerally aftertaste.

The 2014 Proprietary Red Surrealist, a blend that is intriguing in itself (59% Cabernet Sauvignon and 41% Petit Verdot, with only 350 cases produced), is a wine with huge tannins, massive concentration, lots of cassis and blueberry and blackberry fruit intermixed with licorice and subtle toast. It is a big wine that should drink well for 30 or more years.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon JCB No. 1, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon bottled unfined and unfiltered after spending 19 months in 65% new French oak, has an opaque purple color, a glorious nose of graphite, blackberry, licorice, incense, Asian spice and white chocolate. The wine has great fruit on the attack, an opulent, full-bodied, multi-tiered mouthfeel and a layered, pure finish of a good 45+ seconds. It is a brilliant wine and will drink well for up to 20 or more years.

The 2014 Proprietary Red Passion, which spent 17 months in 42% French oak and is a blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot, exhibits a complex, fragrant nose of unsmoked cigar tobacco, chocolate, camphor, vanillin and oodles of blackcurrant and blackberry fruit. It is long, rich, sensual, lush and best consumed over the next 12-15+ years.

Another impressive 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from this grouping is the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon District Collection St. Helena, which was aged 19 months in 50% new French casks and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Where the Oakville is a tiny cuvée of only 186 cases, this one represents 467. Terrific blackcurrant and black cherry fruit soar from the glass with loamy soil undertones. The wine has more flesh, fat and succulence, a full-bodied mouthfeel and an easygoing and sexy texture and finish. It is a classic 2014 and best drunk over the next 15+ years.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon District Collection Rutherford represents 738 cases, and this is truly a remarkable wine and probably the best Raymond wine in many a year. Aged 19 months in 55% new French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered, this seamless classic has a fragrant blackberry and cassis-scented nose, a touch of licorice, creosote and incense, Asian spice, and subtle background oak that make this a juicy, dense wine with moderate tannin, but with fabulous mouthfeel and intensity. This should drink well for 20-25 or more years.

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.