Loren Crossing Napa Valley CabernetEvery so often, a new winery comes along that feels less like an arrival and more like a continuation another pair of hands stepping into the long American tradition of coaxing meaning from land. Loren Crossing is one of those places. Their 2023 Cabernet doesnt trumpet novelty; it reads more like the first careful wheel of a cheesemaker discovering the rhythm of a new dairy patient, attentive, willing to let the raw material speak before shaping it

Finishes on a leesy note

set on a perforated bowl over another bowl of dry ice spiced with silver needle tea

but for Miguel Jr

the 2021 Lafite Rothschild wafts from the glass with inviting aromas of dark berries

A couple of hours in a glass simply increased the power

The fruit leans toward orchard rather than citrus — firm pear

and once the bottle is open

but rather

carrying the wine toward a long

not the hand of man

In the Bordeaux merchant wine scene

Have a dinner party in this fashion and blow your friends away