Well, here’s your big, bold, bruiser Paso Cabernet. Purple-ruby in the glass, the pink rim staining my glasses terribly. Pretty muffin-top cherry-ridden nose all plush and sexy, the fruit reduced down into chewy squares of licorice, molasses and oak. The oak I must note started off very bold and distinctive on initial pour but slinks back into the wine quite comfortably with air. I’m chalking this up to this being a VERY young release–or even a pre-release sample. The bouquet is comfortable with itself–not trying too hard, no vigorous rough edges–pretty much exactly where a good cab should be on 24-mo release. Typically I would decant something this young to fleshen it up a bit, but this thing is doing just fine on its own. It is lively and beautiful and polished with a rich, ripe core of dark fruit.
Tasting it sparks things up a bit, and refreshingly. Massive black cherry hits hard on entry, absolutely OBLITERATING all. As the deep red trickles off the rock, jagged edges are exposed: ridiculous pungent briar, hot loamy dust and miles of rusty barbed-wire. The licorice on the nose translates to a more refined anise-seed in the mouth, and caramel-chocolate abounds. Thick and delicious late-middle, it rather clogs up the throat with gritty concentration and powerful cola-injected earthiness springs forth in the finish, where tannins *possibly* able to out-live the fruit reside.
This is a drink-now beauty with minimal aging characteristics but hey: that’s how everyone drinks wine now. Grab a case, take it to every party this summer, trot it out for your Napa-centric bling-bro friends; let it mingle with the super-tuscans at the beach house, or best yet: plop it down between those Daou’s, Justin’s and l’Aventure’s at the BBQ. YOU’RE GOING TO BE A HERO. Dusty’s here to stay and his wines are legit contenders. People need to start recognizing this name. This is Paso Cab up from the streets.
2018 DUSTY NABOR Cabernet Sauvignon El Pomar Dist. Paso Robles 14.5
Stephen McConnell 