Tasting note

The winery's web site doesn't tell us the grape varieties and percentages, but it refers to 'all five varieties,' so I assume we're dealing with cabernets franc and sauvignon, merlot, malbec, and petit verdot. A dash of carmenère and we'd have the whole set. (Yes, carmenère was listed in Bordeaux's AOC regulations, even when it was thought to be extinct.) The five varieties are aged (individually) for 18 months in barrels from four sources (France, the U.S., Hungary, and Russia) then blended and aged another three months. What you get is a delicious red with loads of complexity and structure on the palate, very good acid-fruit balance, and fairly grippy ripe tannins. It's still young and quite taut, and although you can drink it now, I would hold it another two or three years while it unwinds. Then drink it from 2018 to 2021 - and beyond, if you're into mature fruit flavours. Score - 4 Stars (out of 5). (Rod Phillips, Winepointer Newsletter, Nov. 2016)