Totally transparent ruby with a wide pink edge. A nose of beautiful briar, weedy stem, tomato fuzz and hot phone-book chocolate-turtle fruit. There’s a certain push-pull in this wine between the unmistakable dark cherry swagger of cab franc and the nearly unmitigable Santa Barbara saunter. The nose on this thing just goes on and on, remarkably dusty and crammed with fruit.

I tasted this wine about a year ago at an event and was blown away. Not only by the wine, but also Alex’s whole approach. I tasted it again a couple months ago and it AGAIN won me over as literally WOTD. I wanted to get it on the blog officially so bad, and here you go.

In the mouth, robust raspberry and dense bitter black cherry create another yin-yang with calm blossomy fruitiness against rose-hips bitter savory. Syrupy acids cloaked in wet earth coat and prod, but the rich fruit sails on and on. Oh and dear DOG the finish: The finish is this warm acerola tincture of rich herbs and spices, a little gratuitous tannin and plenty of chalky definition ending in warm California fruit.

This winemaker needs to be on your radar. This wine needs to be in your wheelhouse. You need to get in on the ground floor of this producer and OK, I’ll stop with the bad metaphors but here’s the deal: This wine is not for everybody. I like to mix that in as often as possible because of readers who blindly read reviews and go That sounds good! and drink it between bottles of Belle Glos and Duckhorn and go That wine is bullshit! THIS WINE IS NOT FOR YOU. Go buy… michael david or Conundrum or whatever.

This is a 1% wine. If you drink Chinon. If you drink crew bojo. If you drink Sicilian volcanic or Tenerife or northern Italy or weingut reds, THIS IS YOUR JAM. This is California showing it CAN bow away from the oaky-jammy stereotypes readily and easily and many winemakers are doing so. Find this or forever be sad.

2018 METRICK Cabernet Franc Rock Hollow Los Olivos Santa Barbara Co 13.0

metrickwines.com