If all the bin-dumps on instagram can be trusted, 2019’s are officially 4 years old, and the proof in the pudding on these massive cabs is indeed the *settling down* quotent and ultimately: the ageability. Dark, impenetrable ruby in the glass, a nose f-i-n-a-l-l-y showing complexity over their youthful chub. These are not ridiculously tannic monsters on release, but rather user-friendly from the get-go. But with time, it’s nice to see some nuances peek through the muster which delight the palate beyond base concentration. Still-water cherubic in pure cherry aplomb, a green minty edge tilts stony minerality and hillside splendor into the favor of the wine 1 percent. Glorious to smell, the oak-leaf-tea and dirty asphalt climbing together in petrichor-ish beauty alongside the lushness.
The entry is still fat and rotund, black-berry intoxication swelling the senses but carefully integrated are crazy notes of structure coming through. It is my opinion these will get more and more difficult to explain as age brushes its notes of dedication upon the vastness of berry. Middle etched with granite and wet slate, more stunning herbaceousness varying the Christmas spice. True beauty is in the finish, where the whole package drys down into integrated tannin the fruit does its best to over-shadow. The cabs from this long-time Pinot-God continue to get better and better, and drinking them gets easier and easier. This wine will outlive most of us.
2019 SECRET DOOR ‘Block 38’ Cabernet Sauvignon Sage Ridge Vyd Napa Valley 14.0
Stephen McConnell 