Medium garnet with thin clear edges.  Moderate sediment.  Muddy, citrus-zest nose with ample oak and warm beach-house-rental.  A bright acidity shows but with it comes dark tar and vegetal nuances of dill and construed oak.

This is not a sophisticated wine.   It heads downhill somewhat in the mouth.  As a 7-yo wine, I’m guessing it one of those home-built masterpieces with strange weirdness at an early age and releasing it late has merely polished some of those items into something reasonably palatable.  And now–at 7– it is at its absolute prime.

Thin and acidic, fruit barely hanging on, the warm banana nose and oak dominating the nose so entry is left with peppermint acids and immediate tannin.  You could talk yourself into this being a wonderful claret.  Or you can call it an entry-level, artificially-complicated and awkward attempt at Cab.  I choose the latter.  It is not a dreadful wine.  It’s just the nose is so fake and the mouth doesn’t deliver. It gets worse with air.

2007 ST. HILAIRE  Meritage 57/29/14 Cab/MT/CF Paso Robles  13.8

http://www.sthilairevineyard.com/