Remember the old Ravenswood Pickberry? Man, I haven’t seen that for a LONG time! I’d seen this label many times, but never had a chance to try it, so when Bobby Moy dropped it on my desk, I was like
Brilliant pink ruby, clear and slightly staining. Smoky-chocolate grabs gobs of all that Sonoma Mountain currant and dilly dust and thrusts it into your face, a slightly-burning edge of young fruit waddles through the rain in worn oil-skin.
In the mouth, pure exuberance of spirit as Sonoma Cab does so well. I tasted a bunch of big Napa offerings today, and this thing certainly has a spring in its step. More of that beautiful dusty fennel and sarsaparilla chokes deeply on intense black cherry before clean shearing monstrous tannins of a slightly hot nature drags it all back into the alley for a beat-down you won’t forget.
A bit cookie-cutter in a few places and the alcohol burn is troubling–especially on a 15, but I can overlook it.
2015 SMITH STORY WINE CELLARS Cabernet Sauvignon Pickberry Sonoma Mt. 14.5
Stephen McConnell 