Beaulieu Vineyard, Napa Valley (California) Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

 BV’s flagship is among the most historic wines in the United States.  At $145 per bottle, you might need a special occasion to try it.  Still, the wine is so good you should contrive an occasion.  How about Father’s Day?  Buy it for your father and present it… with the cork already pulled.  Or buy it for yourself if you’re a father.  Even if you’re an orphan, you still had a father, so there’s an angle to be played.  And play it you should, as the 2015 was masterfully crafted from obviously terrific fruit, and is already wonderful, though it will still become significantly more complex over the next decade.  Dark and deeply flavored, with lots of interesting little aromatic nuances leading the way, it offers admirably layered flavors of blackberries, black cherries, spices, toast and cocoa powder that are exceptionally well integrated.  Worthy of particular credit is the fact that the oak-derived notes are already beautifully interwoven with the fruit, the richness of which has already counterbalanced any overt wood tannin (90% of the oak was new) plus almost all of the grape tannin.