97pts Jeb Dunnuck

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.

Winemaker Notes

The vineyard site from where this fruit is sourced each year is its own little pocket valley in northwest Calistoga. When you leave the main road and meander down the gravel driveway, you’re surrounded by rolling hills, sprawling ancient oak trees. Once you gain the ridgeline and drop back down towards our block, you are greeted by the biggest oak of them all, a gatekeeper of this micro-valley. This same sense of sprawling natural grandeur is found in the 2021 Maybach Amoenus.

The wine balances velvety, plush black fruit and elegantly defined structure. The aromas jump from the glass in waves but stay very precise. Flavor here is both deep and broad which speaks to the completeness of the wine at this early stage. The wine is inky and layered with classic varietal notes of cassis, blackberries, grilled bread, creosote and spring flowers. With a few hours in the decanter or a few years in the cellar, one will discover the deepest secrets this wine has to offer.

Winemaker : Thomas Rivers Brown