Maybach Family Vineyards Maybach Amoenus 2017 750ml

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Amoenus Cabernet Sauvignon delivers compelling earthy notions of truffles, mossy bark, iron ore and underbrush over a core of warm cassis, blackberry pie and grilled meats plus wafts of spice cake and dried herbs. Full-bodied, concentrated and oh-so-seductive, the generous flash maintains a firm backbone of grainy-textured tannins and just enough background acid, finishing long and multilayered. 240 cases were made.

Leading off the 2021s I was able to taste from Maybach, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Amoenus is flat-out brilliant and has a layered, perfumed, almost exotic style in its black and blue fruits as well as spicy, floral, incense, orange blossom, and gravelly earth-like aromas and flavors. It shows the concentrated yet vibrant, focused style of the vintage, has full-bodied richness, beautiful tannins, and a gorgeous finish. This powerful, structured, incredibly impressive Cabernet Sauvignon deserves 4–5 years in the cellar and will evolve for two decades at a minimum.

From a single vineyard in Calistoga, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Amoenus isn’t far off what the estate produced in 2016. It’s a pure, full-bodied, powerful 2017 that does everything right. Loads of blueberries, cassis, Asian spice, and flowery incense define the bouquet, and it has a pure, classic, focused style on the palate. I love its purity of fruit, it has ripe, present tannins, and while it needs 2–3 years of bottle age, it’s going to evolve gracefully for 15–20 years. (Jeb Dunnuck)

From a cool pocket in otherwise warm Calistoga, Maybach’s 2021 Amoenus Cabernet Sauvignon features aristocratic notes of crushed stone, cassis, black cherries and cedary overtones. A marked contrast to the sumptuous, seductive 2019, the 2021 is also full-bodied and concentrated but with a firm structure and plentiful tannins. It’s even rather stern at this stage of its development but should be fine with some time in the cellar. (Joe Czerwinski)

A final tank blend soon to be bottled, the 2017 Amoenus Cabernet Sauvignon gives up a deep garnet-purple color an impressive array of black cherries, charcoal, mulberries, warm plums, chargrill and crème de cassis scents with hints of bay leaves, smoked meats, crushed rocks and spice cake. Full-bodied, taut and chewy in the mouth, it delivers a solid structure and a savory finish.