Larkmead, Napa Valley (California) Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

 I had an opportunity to taste this wine side-by-side with the 2012 Solari, and, not surprisingly, there were many similarities in spite of vintage differences and time in the bottle.  Both are smooth, luscious with an amazing amount of the taste and complexity coming in the finish.  The fruit is creamy purple with floral flavors, among them violets, and there are nutty tannins in the finish.  The current vintage appears leaner with more barrel flavors and a lot of dusty chocolate notes.  I like to leave open impressive wines that are still tight to see how they evolve.  Four days later, I threw this bottle in the recycle bin, but the wine was still lovely.  Both vintages were made by Dan Petroski (see also Massican) who last summer turned over the job at Larkmead to his assistant winemaker, Avery Heelan.  In a recent Zoom conversation, I asked Heelan what she intends to do differently at Larkmead.  “I want to work more on the mid-palate and to do more flavor extraction,” she said, not falling prey to generalities the way many young winemakers do when succeeding their former bosses.  In a couple of years, I’m very much looking forward to tasting her 2021 Solari.