Baking spices abound with a basket of nutmeg and clove and a hint of all-spice. Aged in French and American oak, the fruits are supple, ripe and rich with sumptuous melon and golden apple. The palate is buoyed with lime zest and pear flesh with a coating of caramel and a tantalizing finish of banana creme.
This is a charming stroll near a bog, with cranberries teeming with rosemary and sage. Red plums emerge to the taste with firm, drying tannins. A front of candied cherry with dried blood orange is bridged with peppery spice for a finish of cinnamon, clove, and cherry cola.
There are appetizing aromas of cooking spices along with notes of tuscan leather and a signature tobacco leaf fresh from the humidor. The textured mouthfeel offers a bounty of ripe black currants with layers of violets, nutmeg, all-spice a touch of smoke, evoking pleasant memories of a campfire.
This wine teems with so much smokey appeal it should require a plush purple dinner jacket. Dark cherry and plum are shrouded in notes of cigar and a touch of bell pepper. A piquant flourish of savory spices follow on the tongue with pine, rosemary and sage. The edges are soft and inviting with tannins that bristle and delight.
Blue fruits of blueberry and boysenberry blossom gloriously on the nose. Aged for 9 months in French Oak, this wine handles self-assuredly with a sturdy chassis, driven by cherry and boysenberry with a touch of rose petals. It shifts with ease on the palate, showcasing savory tannins dusted with clove and a hint of cinnamon. This has the horsepower of a full-bodied red and is comforting and soft – an iron fist in a velvet riding glove. A triumph.
A dynamo! A tarry compote of blackberry, espresso, and fennel lead the way. A thread of acidity calms this blockbuster, allowing notes of roses, peonies, and baking spices to surface. Opulent from start to finish.
A user-friendly Cabernet that rings up for $10 is a pleasant surprise. Yes, it this a bit sweet for Cabernet and quite soft in feel, but at this price those are selling points rather than shortcomings. Sourcing fruit from both cooler and warmer vineyards resulted in a bit of complexity, but this is all about affordable drinkability, and it succeeds at exactly that.
The wine highlights creamy butter as advertised, but other flavors pucker up, with a decadent bouquet of jasmine and hawthorne. There’s a textural softness, with layers of peach, lemon pith and fruit cocktail with a baker’s flourish of custard and pie crust – an indulgent pleasure.