Dry Creek Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley (California) Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

This vintage of DCV Endeavor Cabernet Sauvignon shows this top Dry Creek Valley vineyard at its best. The nose exhibits rich notes of cassis and blackberry, with hints of floral and spice. On the palate this wine is layered and complex, with dazzling persistence of flavor and a seductive finish. It’s hardly cheap — or even inexpensive — at $65 a bottle, but this is a wine that could easily pass for a $100 effort from the Napa Valley. It is showing extremely well at five years of age, but in my humble opinion its best is in the future rather than the past.