2016 Mark Ryan - The Dissident

The 2016 The Dissident is 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot from a multitude of vineyards spread throughout the Colombia Valley. Its saturated purple color is followed by classic Cabernet Sauvignon notes of crème de cassis, cedarwood, lead pencil, and vanilla spice. Deep, medium to full-bodied, beautifully pure and seamless on the palate, with no hard edges, it's another beautiful wine that's accessible today yet will keep for 10-15 years.

(aged in 58% new oak but owner/winemaker McNeilly noted that the rest of the barrels are also young and have an impact on the wine): Bright ruby-red. Aromatically expressive scents of black and blue fruits and rose petal. At once penetrating and pliant, showing classic Red Mountain blueberry character along with a note of bitter chocolate and an element of savory complexity. A bit more serious than the last vintage of this wine, despite the fact that the yields in this vineyard were difficult to manage in 2016 (some of the fruit was declassified to Mark Ryan's second label). McNeilly noted that he introduced some five-ton fermenters for this bottling in his new facility and got more texture and length as a result. Finishes with suave tannins. (14.7% alcohol)