Cabernet Sauvignon, 2018

John Williams’ Estate Cabernet is a classic and super traditional Napa Cabernet, fashioned by a family operation that favours balance over ballast, and drinkability over egotism. The result is one of Napa’s most engaging and classically styled wines; drinkable on release, but capable of decades in the cellar. Indeed bottles from the late ‘80s, first few Frog’s Leap vintages, are still a treat today. And while an old school sensibility reigns in the winery it is a hugely progressive approach to farming and all-round sustainability that really sets this project apart, allowing 'the natural expression of the vine' and their Rutherford soils, to shine through. Deep cassis fruit shot through with a sense of iron rich minerality, spicy stones, wild berry fruit, sappy hedgerow notes and telltale Rutherford dust notes. With the texture of pulling your hand over velvet, this is a satisfying and hugely alluring Napa cabernet of the utmost pedigree.