2005 Melbury Cabernet Sauvignon

Bright red with ruby tones. Deep, dark blackberry and cassis aromas are complicated by violet, licorice and minerals as well as a mellow tobacco nuance; the first really secondary nose among these Melbury wines. Push, rich, mouthfilling and deep but not at all heavy; a wonderfully fruity, almost liqueur-like wine with sneaky inner-mouth energy and lift. Harmonious acidity and noble, horizontal tannins perfectly buffer and shape the wine's sweet fruit. Most impressive today on the slowly mounting, palate-staining whiplash of a finish. This is the highest score I've yet given to this vintage.

Medium ruby-red. Expressive nose offers scents of currant, plum, tobacco, graphite and spicecake. Wonderfully sweet, broad and spicy, with a suggestion of cinnamon behind the currant and plum fruit; still quite youthful despite an incipent truffle note, with herbal accents providing energy. Surprisingly light on its feet and very long on the ripely tannic back end. A superb showing: this beauty is balanced to enjoy 2016 or to hold. Tannins are quite firm with air but this wine boasts terrific sweetness for the year. I might have guessed that this wine had a good percentage of Merlot.

The 2005 Melbury, which comes from the hills east of Rutherford just north of Lake Hennessey and Pritchard Hill, is absolutely spectacular. This is a 7-acre parcel, planted in sedimentary and clay soils on steep slopes. Deep purple, with blueberry, black raspberry and graphite notes, a gracious and generous, full-bodied mouthfeel, soft, but noticeable tannin, a refreshing finish and loads of complexity, this is a compelling 2005 that seems to be coming close to its plateau of maturity, where it should last for 20-25 years.