The 2017 J. Lohr Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon shows splendid ripe fruit, cocoa powder, and graphite on the nose. The palate comes across dense, chalky and soft, with layers of black currant, mineral, and notes of toasted pastry. Delicious with rosemary-seasoned rib-eye and garlic roasted potatoes with parsnips and fennel. Smoky and lean, this is built like a ripe Bordeaux, with a lovely tension between its oak frame and its dark purple fruit flavors. Decant it to let those flavors to meld before pouring for steak.
