This is my 4th or 5th wine from this producer. I’ve always really wanted to like them, but so far they are emphatically not candidates for the Robert Hunter Pantheon.
Others have included some very good but not great sparklers, an OK Chardonnay and an OK Cabernet. All have been sold by various merchants with bottle age, and at reasonable prices, but sorry to say none has gotten me excited.
Very dark crimson color. The aromas are rather closed but offer some pleasant black cherry fruit, with a hint of raspberry. The palate is also closed, there is pleasant diffuse fruit, more red than black, but neither aromas nor palate offer any of the violet and rose floral notes of fine Malbec, nor much in the way of minerality, clarity or intensity. If I was served blind, I would have guessed a supermarket Cabernet enhanced by some ageing in pretty good oak barrels. The finish offers some length and subtlety, but not enough to lift it. Rated about 83. I have one bottle left, will hold it for at least two years and hope for some aromatics and subtlety to develop.
Dan Kravitz