2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Kashmir

Finally, a candidate for potential perfection is the 175-case 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Kashmir, which is essentially a selection of the finest barrels in the cellars. It is 100% Cabernet with a black/purple color to the rim offering up notes of graphite, pen ink, charcoal, incense, blackberry and cassis. It hits the palate with a full-bodied, thunderous impact of fruit and glycerin, has beautiful, well-integrated tannin, new oak and finishes with a close to 50+-second aftertaste. This is glorious, and possibly the best wine yet offered by Kamen. Drink it over the next 30+ years.

The 2014 Kashmir makes no pretension about competing qualitatively with the 2013, but I did like it’s up-front, fruity, front-end-loaded style, with loads of sweet tannin, striking minerality, and plenty of blueberry and blackberry fruit on the attack and mid-palate. It doesn’t have the structure or density of the 2013, or the flamboyance of the 2012, but it’s a pretty wine.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Kashmir, the top selection at Kamen, has aged impeccably. It shows a bit more of a red-toned fruit profile and stronger floral overtones in the aromatics than the other wines, with all the bright acidity and insistent tannin that are signatures the wines off this Moon Mountain estate. It, too, is an infant. Superb.