(a Left Bank blend made by Ben Smith): Bright red-ruby. Complex, high-pitched nose melds blackberry candy, cassis, bitter chocolate, violet, licorice pastille and menthol. Suave and fine-grained, offering lovely inner-mouth floral lift to the black fruit, licorice, mineral and menthol flavors. A rather uncompromising, distinctly Médoc-like Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine yet not at all hard or dry. Distinctly higher-pitched and more refined than the 2012 version. The tannins spread out to dust the palate on the lively, long, scented finish. I'd like to come back to this wine in four or five years.

The 2013 Collaboration Series I is a Cabernet Sauvignon dominated blend that includes 12% each of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot. It's a quintessential Washington State Bordeaux blend and has lots of freshness and purity in its cassis, leafy herbs, violets, and hints of lead pencil aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied, elegant and nicely focused, this classy 2013 should be at its best from 2018-2028+.