Beautiful light translucent ruby with just a hint of amber at the edge. Old-world nose, immediately funky and cellar-ridden, a clear green stemmy vibe sourcing from down deep. Grapefruit minerality toys with the ripe fruit–nice plump cherry, salted licorice and star-anise. It smells quite wonderful, raspy enough to let you know it means business, delicate enough to spell out a serious focus, and fruity enough to make the barnyard take a backseat.
Blood-orange on entry, vibrantly spicy and peppered at all corners. Cool and calm–thin and refreshing–but lusciousness drips all over the transparent package. Swallowing is painless and smooth, and dry, chalky tannins stay perfectly tuned to the whole presentation.
A stellar drinking wine. NOT a massive, oaky super-Tuscan luxo-bomb NOR is is Kool-aid. A wine to be enjoyed AND contemplated. And drank. Seriously dranken. You need a case of this. Positively gorgeous and near-perfect. This should be on every restaurant’s BTG list EVERYWHERE. And yes, I despise the term ‘cal-ital’.
2018 PALMINA ‘Alisos’ Sangio/cab 80/20 Santa Barbara Co. 13.5
Stephen McConnell 