2018 BARNETT VINEYARDS RATTLESNAKE SPRING MOUNTAIN DISTRICT CABERNET SAUVIGNON "Our tasting panel tastes thousands and thousands of wines every year, many of them super high-scoring. Even so, there are very few that are so mind-bogglingly great from the first sip that they virtually require you to continue discovering their secrets. The 2018 Barnett Rattlesnake Cabernet Sauvignon from Spring Mountain is undoubtedly one of those super-compelling wines that dials everything into perfection. It begins with a very intriguing nose, including black currants, graphite, light menthol, cocoa powder, and the aromas of walking through a cedar grove after rainfall. It continues with a very compact, concentrated palate of muddled blackberries, black raspberries, baker's chocolate, and saline minerals, along with hints of green peppercorn. Then, just saying the finish is long and complex is an understatement. The waves of balanced fruits and flavors not only dance across your palate for over a minute, but they also penetrate your very being. This stunner is a spectacular bottle of wine, and I can't wait until the next time I get to taste it again." 98 Points, #1 WCC Top 5 Wines of 2021 "Here is a wine that, from the very first sniff, is sure to make even the most hard-to-please Cabernet Sauvignon lovers sit up and take note. Its utterly gorgeous aromas of extraordinarily deep, beautifully defined, cassis-like fruit are overlain by lovely oak that brings a tantalizing touch of crèmebrûlée sweetness into play. While it is very solidly structured with the tannin's to age for years and years, its altogether unrelenting fruit effortlessly outdistances its youthful grip and astringency. It is a wine that serious collectors of fine Cabernet's who know the rewards of patience will not want to not miss, and bringing it to the table any sooner than a half-decade hence would, in our minds, be a near-unforgivable sin." 95 Points