Among the producer's most luxurious offerings, this nearly 100% varietal wine (with 2% Petit Verdot) is grippy in tobacco and big, pillowy tannin. The leaner side of its personality is defined by classic notions of cedar, currant and graphite, while its other aspect reveals riper elements of mountain blackberry and chocolate mocha. They all work well together in sync.

The flagship wine, the 2012 M by Michael Mondavi, is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petit Verdot. In this vintage, the wine seems lush, opulent and soft, with lots of creamy blackcurrant fruit interwoven with some cedar wood, licorice and forest floor. It is juicy, but doesn't seem to have the density and concentration of the two vintages of Animo. Nevertheless, it is elegant and made in a Bordeaux style. Drink it over the next 12-15 years.