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2006 Vintage

93 Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar May/June 2009
Glass-staining ruby. Deep, youthfully brooding cassis and dark cherry on the nose, with a strong licorice note building in the glass. Sappy black and blue fruit flavors are framed by dusty tannins and energized by a tangy mineral note. The licorice quality repeats on the finish, which is broad, sappy and impressively persistent. For a big boy, this is pretty graceful.

92+ Robert M. Parker Jr.'s The Wine Advocate December 2008
Although backward, the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Larkmead Vineyard is extremely promising. Its inky/ruby/purple color is followed by a gorgeous perfume of smoke herbs, graphite, crème de cassis, coffee beans, and toasty oak. With sensational fruit on the attack and mid-palate, and a finish filled with power, glycerin, depth, and impressive structure, this 2006 will benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age, and should evolve for two decades or more.

88 (one puff) Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine, Volume 33 Issue 10: August 2009
If perhaps not as big as its two siblings, Ramey's Larkmead Cabernet never wants for substance or size. It marries dark fruit and chocolate and a touch of dried herbs in the nose, and it follows with very ripe flavors whose extract and density come at the cost of fairly gruff tannins. It is unlikely be a wine of refinement regardless of age, but it very much needs to be left undisturbed for at least a half-dozen years.

Four stars + Ronn Wiegand's Restaurant Wine, Issue #130, March/April 2009
Fleshy and medium rich, this is a complex, smoothly textured wine, with very ripe fruit character (cassis, berry jam), and layers of oak (cedar, tobacco, vanilla, toast); long finish. [2012-2016]

88 California Grapevine, Vol. 35, No. 3, June-July 2009
Medium-dark ruby; forward, herbal, cedary, raspberry and blackberry fruit aroma with notes of sweet oak; full body; rich, thick, concentrated, dark berry fruit flavors; full tannin; hard, drying finish; lingering aftertaste. Highly recommended.

2005 Vintage

93-95  Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar May/June 2007
Dark purple. Remarkably spicy and vibrant on the nose, with powerful cassis, kirsch, espresso and rose pastille aromas and a subtle iron note. Intense red and dark fruit flavors are powered by vibrant minerality and framed by fine but solid tannins. Exotic spice notes come up on the long, stunningly sweet finish. "These vines are just coming into their majority," Ramey said.

91  Robert M. Parker Jr.'s The Wine Advocate December 2007
The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Larkmead Vineyard (1,360 cases produced from a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Petit Verdot, and 9% Merlot) possesses abundant amounts of crème de cassis, graphite, cedar, roasted herbs, and spice. This is an attractive Cabernet that should drink well for 15-20 years.

2004 Vintage

92  Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar May/June 2007
Inky ruby. Strong tobacco- and herb-accented cassis and cherry aromas, with an underpinning of graphite. Elegant and spicy in the mouth, with energetic red and dark berry flavors and firm, youthful tannins. This possesses impressive power but there's also a sense of restraint, suggesting that it will repay cellaring.

91  Robert M. Parker Jr.'s The Wine Advocate December 2006
The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Larkmead has that gorgeously pure crème de cassis that I notice consistently in Screaming Eagle. The wine is full-bodied, elegant, sexy, and rich, and should easily last and evolve for 10-15 or more years. In fact, I would give it 2-3 years of bottle age. This is a phenomenal wine and one of the finest 2004 Cabernet Sauvignons.