Didn’t really see this one coming… Pulled a miserably corked Shiraz out and opened this as a back-up, not expecting much. Wow. What a surprise. I want to go down Villa Mt. Eden or even Bradford trails with this one, and old-school people will understand. But this is a proprietary red of relative low price and here at 14 it stuns. Heavy sediment in an opaque black glass with considerable brick. Layers of tertiary leather peel off in the nose, Parmesan and caramelized sugar vying for superiority in a decadent, velvety body thick with dank fruit. Considerable bottle-funk on opening, quickly breathing to rich berry massaged perfectly into earthy splendor.
This is my last bottle of this–from memory a 5 cent sale at BevMo–and oh how I do wish I had purchased more. I’m ignoring the fact is is probably heavy Syrah and various other sullying agents in a proper meritage, but oh how it has polished greatly. Perfect in nearly every detail, the berry lush and ripe, the polish a thick patina with years to go. Ranking up there with some of my most spectacular Anthology visits, I’m wondering why I don’t see this blend more often on shelves. Dusty and dank, the body impossibly fruit-driven and complex, the mid-palate ridiculously acidic, chalky and dry, morphing easily into still-powerful tannins. Lush and effortlessly concentrated, green spires of proper Napa eucalyptus and red dust smeared all over with the age a timid testament begging for more cellar time. Literally one of the most chuggable old wines I have experienced, practically BEGGING for another swallow. Can you even still buy this wine???
2008 CONN CREEK ‘Herrick Red’ Napa Valley 14.5
Stephen McConnell 