2010 Gandona Cabernet Sauvignon

Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill was aged 25 months in 80% new French oak. It exhibits a dense ruby/purple color along with lots of sweet black currant and black raspberry fruit intermixed with hints of blackberries, spring flowers and forest floor. The complex aromatics are followed by a full-bodied, impressively built, concentrated wine that can be approached now or cellared for 25+ years. Gandona is the former Bob Long Estate high on Pritchard Hill, and these are impressive offerings from this 17-acre vineyard. www.gandona.com

(15.1% alcohol; from vines in a very steep, rocky vineyard on Pritchard Hill, planted in 1992 and previously part of the Bob Long property; 2009 was the first release): Good medium ruby. Very ripe but slightly muted aromas of medicinal black cherry, minerals and truffle. Plump and deep but a bit youthfully unforthcoming, showing some alcoholic warmth to the medicinal flavors of black raspberry, mocha and herbs. I found an intriguing suggestion of silex. This rather Pauillac-like cabernet boasts a huge middle and significant tannic clout but I'd like to have seen a bit more definition and verve. Perhaps this is in an awkward stage today.

Gandona's 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate comes across as rich, bombastic and opulent. I don't quite see the finesse or delineation of the 2009, but the 2010 is still in barrel. Today, the tannins and the wine's overall structure have an upper hand over the fruit.