This was my first time trying a wine from this vineyard. It is excellent. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has cassis, blueberries, slight coffee, and spice. On the palate, this has a great texture. Firm tannins. Lots of cassis, some blueberries with underlying minerality and dry earth. Good finish. This needs seven to ten years and should be good for a decade after that. It will work with medium and heavier meats and fowl.
Oakville Ranch Vineyard is a gorgeous place and I always wondered why the wines were not more consistently great. This is my first time trying a Mending Wall utilizing their fruit and it is great. Inky purple in color. The nose has cassis, blueberries, baking spices, and slight pencil lead. On the palate, this is deep and somewhat concentrated. Lots of cassis fruit with some blueberries over a bit of dry earthiness. Firm tannins. Good finish. This will need five to seven years and then should be good for another ten to fifteen. There is a nice complexity to this wine as it unwinds
This is the basic Napa Cab from Mending Wall. In general, I found it to be a bit tighter and less opulent than the single vineyard ones. It is still an excellent Cabernet and, of course, a bit less expensive. Inky purple in color. The nose is tight but shows some cassis and spice. On the palate, this is medium to full bodied. Firm tannins. Deep with tight layers of cassis, spice and slight earthiness. Good finish. This needs about seven to ten years until peak and should be good for another ten after that.
This is another Napa Cab made by Thomas Rivers Brown. Not inexpensive, but still under $100 isn't bad for a wine with this pedigree. Inky purple in color, opaque and shimmering bright. The nose is great with cassis, slight blueberries, slight chocolate, graphite and spice. Wonderful lush texture. Lots of energy. On the palate, firm tannins. This is very concentrated at this young stage. It could easily do with a 24 hour decant prior to serving. Cassis, black plums, with some char and a bit of dry earthiness. Long finish. Delicious. This should continue to improve for the next se
