2018 Tesseron Estate, Pym-Rae Red, Mount Veeder, Napa Valley, California, USA

Concentrated and intense, with damson, black cherry, smoked earth, tar, turmeric, dried fruits, spice box, bitter chocolate. Packed with flavour and depth of fruit, with an unmistakable flash of heat through the finish that is just balanced by fennel and aniseed herbs. Heavy bottle seems out of step with a biodynamic mountain wine, but this is a luscious bottle that has impact and confidence.Drink 2025 to 2038jane_anson_mw, janeanson_com (August 2022)

This is extremely aromatic with blackberries, black pepper and spice. Dried flowers, too. Full-bodied with very tight, fine tannins and a racy, refined finish. Raspberries and currants at the end. Very fine and polished. The center fruit is so pure. Aged in 60% new wood barrels and 40% concrete. Drink in 2023 and onwards.james_suckling, jamessuckling_com (Sep 2021)

The 2018 Pym-Rae reveals a deep garnet-purple color and a slightly reticent, slowly emerging nose of freshly crushed blackcurrants, ripe blackberries and wild blueberries with suggestions of garrigue, red currant jelly, mossy tree bark and truffles plus wafts of bouquet garni and Sichuan pepper. The palate is full-bodied and fantastically concentrated with tightly wound layers of black and red berry notions, framed by very firm yet beautifully ripe tannins and amazing tension, finishing with epic length and loads of mineral sparks.Drink 2023 - 2048Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate (Nov 2020)

The 2018 Pym-Rae can be thought of as a hypothetical mix of the 2016 and 2017, with more sexiness and opulence than the 2017 and a touch more elegance and precision than the 2016. Wonderful cassis, violets, tobacco, lead pencil, and chocolate notes define this beauty, and it's full-bodied, with a gorgeous sense of elegance and purity, perfect tannins, and an incredible finish. This stunningly majestic, flawlessly balanced Mountain Cabernet already offers pleasure yet will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age, and it should be a 50-year wine. Bravo!Drink 2025 - 2068jeb_dunnuck, jebdunnuck (Dec 2021)