2018 Blankiet Estate Mythicus Cabernet Sauvignon Paradise Hills Vineyard

Lastly, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Mythicus (100% Cabernet Sauvignon from a site in Yountville) can be thought of as the flagship cuvee. As with the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, it's built for the long haul, offering unevolved notes of blackcurrants, cassis, charcoal, graphite, burning embers, violets, and camphor. Reminding me of the 2010 Pontet Canet on release, it's full-bodied, concentrated, and powerful, with building structure, flawless balance, and a great finish. Don't even think about opening a bottle for at least 7-8 years.

Blankiet's 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Mythicus Paradise Hills Vineyard is magnificent. Inky, deep and soaring in its intensity. Mythicus is a blend taken mostly from well-exposed parcels in Blocks 1, 6, 7 and 8, which feature variations on volcanic ash soils that are starkly delineated in the separate components. The Mythicus is one of the most tightly wound wines of 2018, but in the very best way. It will be absolutely thrilling in another few years' time, once the tannins soften further. Purplish black fruit, gravel, spice, menthol, licorice and dried herbs linger on the intense finish.

Produced from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2018 Mythicus Paradise Hills Vineyard has a deep garnet-purple color and fragrant notes of violets, stewed black cherries, tilled loam and Indian spices over a core of black currant pastilles, ripe blackberries, black raspberries and clove oil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate offers layer upon layer of black fruits, exotic spices and floral notions with a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and perfumed.