I didn't remember until I got home that I had this once before. Probably because the last bottle was good but it did not show this well. Not quite sure why. It might have been me, the circumstances, the food or just bottle variation. This bottle was opened and allowed to breathe for an hour so perhaps that had something to do with it. That's why we pop the corks though. This bottle was outstanding. It is a project of the famous winemaker Heidi Barrett. In a vintage like 2011, this one managed to be clean, ripe and without any green streaks. Very impressive. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has cherries, black cherries and sandalwood. On the palate, this has a lovely juicy texture. Slight tannins at this point. Lots of black cherry fruit. Very focused and intense. Deep and a long finish. Another friend commented that it was similar in style (elegant with some structure and more red than purple fruit but still Cab) as Screaming Eagle whom Heidi Barrett at one time made wine. That was a very good point. This wine worked great with a Roasted Eggplant dish and really is a wine that will work better with food but is wonderful on its own.
