Freemark Abbey 'Sycamore' Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc.
Located on the southern end of the Rutherford Bench, Sycamore Vineyard’s proximity to the Mayacamas Mountains provides the perfect climate for growing a rich, textured Cabernet. The wine is intense in aromatic complexity, reminiscent of blackberry, pomegranate syrup, black tea, and forest floor. The palate is rich and textured with flavors of forest fruits, dark chocolate, bay leaf, and warm oak spices. The ‘Rutherford dust’ is evident in the tannin structure, giving it textures that are bold but integrated, making it lovely to drink now with the capability to age in the cellar for decades.
Primary Vineyard: Sycamore Vineyard—Rutherford (100%): Small 24-acre vineyard located about 1.2 miles south of Bosche, right up against the Mayacamas Range, this vineyard has a rich clay loam. Sycamore Vineyard produces small berries reminiscent of mountain fruit berries, with intense extract of color and flavor. The color is very dark early in the fermentation, with flavors of black currant and black berry with a forest floor complexity.
Review:
Even better, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyard is jaw-dropping stuff and does everything right. More structured and tannic compared to the Bosche, it has loads of red and black fruits as well as sandalwood, camphor, bay leaf, and bouquet garni-like aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, deep, layered, and concentrated, yet still with this wonderful sense of elegance, it needs 3-5 years of bottle age and will evolve for 20-25 years as well.
-Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points
Trus Albillo Mayor Reserva Ribera del Duero is made from 100% Albillo Mayor.
Light straw yellow color despite its age. Aromas of white flowers and grapefruit typical of the variety, along with some very light notes of toasted wood and of long bottle ageing. Very well-balanced on the palate, with the characteristic fullness of the variety and a very refreshing natural acidity which bodes well for the wine's ageing. A wine for ageing which already displays all its complexity and elegance. We recommend consumption at a temperature of between 8 and 12ºC.
Grapes are coming from a Goblet-trained vineyards in Peñaranda de Duero. Dry-farmed, without irrigation. Different orientations and altitudes.
TA: 6 g/l in tartaric acidity.
VA: 0.4g/l.
pH: 3.3.