title: Summers 2009 Checkmate Cabernet Sauvignon (Diamond Mountain District)
description: This is easily one of the most delicious Cabernets of the year. The first sip dazzles, offering a treasure chest of flavors, including blackberry, spice, mocha and toasted oak. For all the richness, the wine is properly dry, and the tannins are as smooth as old silk. It's so approachable, it's hard to believe it's from Diamond Mountain, whose tannins are notoriously hard in youth. The one drawback is that the wine is too soft for aging, but who cares? Drink now–2015.
variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
designation: Checkmate