Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

Professional Ratings

• 97 James Suckling

  Aromas of blackcurrant, mushroom, wet earth and bark follow through to a full body, chewy tannins and a stone, berry, chili and spice aftertaste. Muscular and chunky. Very serious. Almost no new oak. This shows the Mayacamas DNA. 

• 96 Jeb Dunnuck
  An incredible wine that reminds me of a great vintage of Lafite, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is a step up over the 2012, with more depth, richness, and elegance as well as texture. Stunning notes of red and blackcurrants, lead pencil shavings, cigar tobacco, and cedar all emerge from this incredibly elegant, ethereal, yet layered 2014 that has present yet polished tannin, impeccable balance, and sensational purity of fruit. It certainly offers pleasure today (more than the 2012) yet will benefit from 5-7 years of bottle age and keep for 2-3 decades. It’s a brilliant, classic, old-school styled Napa Cabernet done perfectly!
• 95 Wine Spectator
  This packs in a lot of juicy black currant and blackberry paste notes, with lively licorice snap and bramble accents filling the available space. A roasted apple wood accent lends a mouthwatering edge while a tarry echo at the very end adds range and length. Should cruise in the cellar. Best from 2020 through 2045.
• 94 Tasting Panel

  This release marks 125 years of winemaking at the estate. With a highly skilled team, including new Napa Winemaker Braiden Albrecht and Consulting Winemaker Andy Erikson, this red is reminiscent of an Old World style with its lower alcohol (13.3%) and high acidity. Dusky aromas include leather, espresso, and olives. The palate is an assertive force with flavors of mountain brush, sour black cherry, and mocha. The team utilizes a combination of cement vat fermenters, open-top foudres and stainless steel, aging the wine 32 months in neutral oak, 20 months in large-format foudres, and 12 months in barriques.

• 93 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  Scents of mint, cassis and mocha appear on the nose of the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon. It's medium-bodied, silky and fine across the mid-palate, then a bit dry and astringent on the lingering finish. While approachable now, at eight-plus years of age, it seems to still have a decade (or more) of upside still ahead of it. Best After 2023.

  Rating: 93+

• 92 Wine & Spirits

  After transitioning from Bob Travers’s long reign at this 465-acre mountain estate, Mayacamas comes to its 125th vintage under the organic viticultural practices of Phil Coturri and the winemaking skills of Andy Erickson. They continue to present the wine as a muscular, youthfully impenetrable cabernet, harvested on the early side of ripeness, requiring long development in the cellar. It’s built like a marathon runner, austere in the power of its mountain-grown tannins, formidable in its foresty red-berry fruit. Dense, tight and herbal, it needs ten to 20 years to fully reveal itself.