(2024) From a vintage described as 'joyous' after a more difficult few years, this cuvée is a selection of the best quality Cabernet Sauvignon, with small berries and high skin-to-juice ratio. Fruit was optically sorted before a portion was fermented in new French oak barrels, the rest in stainless steel and concrete tanks. The wine was then blended with 6% Petit Verdot and aged 22 months in French oak, 95% of the barrels new. There's so much depth and lush, plump black fruit in the nose, with vanilla and spices, dark chocolate and yet a floral, violet and kirsch element that lifts the aromas too. The oak is sensitively and beautifully done. In the mouth the plush concentration of the black fruit is silky and velvet-rich, the creamy oak adding a light veneer of toast, and yet the cherry-skin bite of the acidity and dusty, very fine tannins adds savoury complexity. Really very impressive wine, which Beaulieu Vineyard suggests will cellar for 30 years. Note that this wine will not be available until September 2024.