~ Library Selection ~

Harvest Date: 09/26/1996

Barrel Age: 22 months in French Oak

Alcohol: 13.6%

Retail price: $155

Release Date: October 1999

Cases produced: 525

“This wine has a beautiful deep ruby color. The nose gives you a combination of sweet ripe Cabernet fruit and some racy spiciness. The fruit from this vineyard consistently produces wines with a black cherry and currant character and this vintage shows this as well. In the mouth, the wine is lively but very soft and elegant. The black cherry carries through on the palate with almost no sign of tannin and a rather lengthy finish. This is an easy-to-drink wine with a lot of finesse and can be enjoyed without much bottle age.” Heidi Peterson Barrett, winemaker.

Reviews:

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar:

"Good full ruby-red. Plum, raspberry jam, blackberry liqueur, and spicy, smoky oak on the nose; slightly syrupy in the style of the vintage. Plump and soft in the middle, but given shape by a slight edge of acidity."
Wine Spectato: "Marked by herb, chocolate, bell pepper and currant flavors, this turns supple and polished, finishes with a leathery currant flavor."

Insiders' Wine Line:

"...very dark ruby red with a perfumed bouquet of boysenberry, raspberry, blackberry, dry orange zest, roses and lead pencil. On the palate the berry and spice driven fruit flavors are lush and exotic with exceptional depth and texture followed by a long, lingering, fruity, toasty finish. Delicious!"