The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Bergfeld is made from 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it delivers scents of Black Forest cake, crème de cassis and blueberry pie with suggestions of aniseed, clove oil, Chinese five spice and Sichuan pepper. Full-bodied, the richly fruited palate has a solid backbone of grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing long and spicy.

The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Bergfeld (a barrel sample) is deep purple-black in color and gives up notes of warm plums, chocolate-covered cherries and wild blueberries with touches of tapenade, tobacco and wild sage. Full-bodied with a firm frame of chewy tannins, it delivers loads of herb-sparked black fruit layers and a very earthy finish.

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Bergfeld is a stunner. Beautiful graphite, spring flowers, blueberry and blackberry fruit, full-bodied opulence, stunning purity and a terrific presence on the palate with no heaviness make for a profound and gorgeous Cabernet Sauvignon to drink over the next 20 years, although it will be absolutely sensational after bottling.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Bergfeld, which comes from a vineyard in St. Helena, has a softer underbelly than the two mountain Cabs, but beautiful blueberry and blackberry fruit, floral notes, silky tannins, and a nice plush mouthfeel that builds incrementally. This full-bodied, luscious wine should drink well in its first 15-20 years of life.

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Bergfeld offers an attractive blackberry-scented bouquet as well as jammy sweet fruit. I was surprised by the degree of ripeness, richness and personality it possessed for a 2011. It should drink well for a decade. I tasted eight cuvees of 2010 Cabernet Sauvignons from Hall. I will write abbreviated notes on the eight 2012s I tasted, which is a great vintage in Napa. Based on my experience with the Hall wines, they show better from bottle than from barrel samples, always a sign of a high quality winery. All of these wines possess splendid opaque blue/purple colors. A remarkable thing about all of Hall’s 2012s is that they should be accessible when released given the sweetness of the tannins, yet they should have 20-30-year drinking windows. Congratulations to Kathryn Hall. I have been high on her wines since I first tasted them in the offices of David Ramey. It is rewarding to see that she is realizing the enormous potential that accompanied her debut wines. Tel. (707) 967-2626