Rich and velvety like devil's food cake, this deep, delicious and full-bodied wine tastes like chocolate, cloves and cinnamon and feels plush in texture. Soft tannins and superripe black cherries and blueberries make it easy to enjoy.

This gives off sanguine and sandalwood hints as the core of gentle-edged black cherry and plum fruit flavors opens slowly. As it does, flashes of tobacco and singed cedar notes blossom through the finish, ending with a tug of warm humus. An old school wine that should reward further cellaring. Drink now through 2032. 8,000 cases made

The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Contadina is a blend of purchased fruit from near Ink Grade and Oak Knoll. It's 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, with bits of Petit Verdot and Malbec, aged in just 15% new French oak, with the rest in older wood. There's a hint of bell pepper, a gentle herbaceousness that's entwined among the bright cherries, then it runs deeper into notes of cassis and chocolate. This medium to full-bodied effort is ripe but not overdone, velvety but easy to drink; enjoy it now and over the next decade.