Red-ruby. Highly aromatic nose combines red berries, game, menthol, tobacco, flowers and a whiff of juniper berry. Concentrated and fine-grained, with enticing floral lift to the red berry, tobacco and mint flavors. Finishes dense and impressively long, with lovely floral perfume. Very distinctive. I like the combination of definition, elegance and power here. Winemaker Thomas Brown noted that this wine, from a vineyard 1,000 feet above the valley floor in the eastern hills of Oakville, never has a pH higher than 3.5.

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The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Materium is a gorgeous, polished wine graced with exquisite detail, clarity and focus. Tobacco, cedar and sweet spices add complexity to the fruit in this powerful, expressive 2009. Layers of dark red fruit, mocha and mint wrap around the striking, seamless finish.

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Firm, with rich, snappy dried berry, currant, spice and tar flavors, ending with a cedary oak edge. Not as flamboyant as the 2008, but well-built and cellar-worthy.

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Winemakers - It has all the power one looks for in Napa Cabernet, however its always high natural acidity provides such explosive aromatics and palate-precision that it comes across as light on its feet. There's a nice spiciness to it that's hard to place, but it contrasts nicely with the crushed rock and dense black-fruited center that dominates the palate