A Cabernet Franc blended with 12 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, grown in the estate’s Blueline Vineyard. Soils are gravel and alluvial wash, and the vintage produced small berries and concentrated, ripe clusters. The wine spent 18 months in French oak, 40 percent new.
It’s inky, fragrant of black cherries tinged with coffee. The body is lush and concentrated, drenched in black plums and mocha. The alcohol and acids erupt in tiny fires along the sides and body of the tongue, while bitter, nutty tannins add bite. The wine feels a tincture of black fruits and coffee and spice, a little too serious to be called opulent. Let’s call it saturated, a wine-dark wine.
14.8% abv | $135 (sample) | 300 cases made
