2021 Bella Oaks Le Genie Cabernet Sauvignon | Napa Valley California 750ml

Le Genie is a cabernet that foretells Bella Oaks' bright future. The fruit of a fastidious replanting of this historic vineyard, Le Genie offers the exuberance of young vines and a wine that does not demand cellaring. Ultimately, Le Genie is a tribute to both the hard-working hands and the hand of fate that guide the destiny of Bella Oaks. | Bella Oaks

The Le Genie bottling is primarily from younger vines off the Bella Oaks estate in Rutherford, along with some purchased fruit, including Cabernet Franc from Cappella and Petit Verdot from Ecotone. Bella Oaks is owned by Suzanne Deal Booth, with Nigel Kinsman as winemaker and Michel Rolland as consulting winemaker, with whom Kinsman has worked since 2003. It is super aromatic with pure blue fruit tones, fragrant capsicum, spearmint, and cedarwood. Plush and full-bodied, with velvety smooth, fine tannins and a profoundly rich core of dark-berry fruit nuanced by savoury herbs and Indian spices and a saline-mineral finish. | 96 Jonathan Cristaldi for Decanter

The second wine from this great estate, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Le Genie is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. It's a beautiful wine in its own right, with a ripe, full-bodied, sexy, yet also pure and elegant style. Cassis, currants, violets, dark chocolate, and spring flower notes all define the aromatics, and it's a riper, softer, sexier wine compared to the Grand Vin that's already impossible to resist... | 94 Jeb Dunnuck for jebdunnuck.com