Dried-blood and Mercurochrome stains the glass. Crisp praline and green banana nose, thick with cherry and syrup, a tangy-rich buttermilk layered in piles of pie-spice and a bit of burn on the nostrils.

So now that so many of these wines are hitting the California deep-discount market the story is starting to come out in bits and pieces, none of which I have validated, but it appears as though not only are the newly branded attempt at restructuring Rubissow Wines being sold for pennies, clearly it also includes some of the 10+ year old Rubissow-Sargents, the name someone MY age is very familiar with. I picked this up for about 70% off list, not expecting any miracles, but so far is MORE than paying its keep.

That tang pauses for a second in the mouth, letting a drop of ripe cherry woo you for a split second before unleashing its fury. Is the tang the leftovers of the faded fruit? I would say Yes, bit also argue there is STILL plenty of fruit here. It swings back in mid-palate to mingle with dusty eucalyptus, conifer and mint-blackberry decadence before signing off in more faded tanginess and still-green tannin while I pause to worm a chunk of sediment out of my teeth.

I am not complaining about this wine one iota. Will I go buy more? Yes, I think I will get a couple. I think it’s got an easy 5 years on it, and my early-90’s cellar-stash is almost gone. If you have this available in your market for a decent price, I would def call your mom and have her take you to get a few.

EDIT: This thing fell apart rather quickly, say 4-5 hours in the bottle and glass it definitely thinned out on the fruit side and all that thin acidity came to the forefront. Still quite lovely, just not as opulent as the first few hours.

1994 RUBISSOW-SARGENT Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder Napa Valley 13.0

Mt+Veeder