2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve

88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot. All To Kalon fruit. A dry winter led to an early budbreak with late spring rains and warm weather. A warm though not hot vintage, with a couple heat spikes in June, led to an early harvest. Fermented in large wood To Kalon tanks and left on skins for 34 days. ML and ageing done in 100% new French oak barrels for 21 months. Fresh fruit aromatics with more of a sense of brightness plus a note of blueberry. The palate moves into chocolate and herbs with a lot of density. There is clearly more to this wine but it is so young and taut currently that it needs time in bottle to show more. Fine, firm, serious tannins with balancing acidity. The 2013 has less showy fruit, more structural balance, and more seriousness than the 2012 (not that the 2012 is unserious). More focus on structure here for plenty of ageing potential. (ECB)

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve comes across as quite restrained today, with most of its power lurking in the background. There is no shortage of depth or intensity, though. Hints of iron, smoke, leather and savory herbs open up gradually, but the 2013 needs at least a few years to uncoil and will drink well for another two decades or so beyond that. This is an especially refined expression of the famed To-Kalon vineyard.