Carter 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon OG   

2023 Carter Cabernet Sauvignon “The O.G.”, Oakville, Napa Valley
San Francisco Wine Panel Score 99+ Points
From the first sip this is both a great Carter Cab and a great representative of a wonderful vineyard and vintage. Buyers of the 2001 and 2002 (still in their Glory) know this block to be one that can deliver a textbook "Birth Year” gift. The nose of this 2023 is luxuriously ripe and grand in intensity and scale and the aromas fan-out as a chiseled medley of bottled Italian sour cherry, black currant, plum compote, mulberry, toasted cedar, clove, baking spice, and sweet dark tobacco scents, with background suggestions of violet and pomegranate syrup. There is huge fruit and great backbone on the palate, where all the promised flavors surge forth and linger with purity, focus and an impression of grandeur. The whole drinking experience suggests Operatic scale and every sip promises years of improvement, yet despite all that brooding power the wine is truly delicious already and even with modest airing it should uplift any dinner party.