2005 Sloan Estate

This vineyard, high above the Rutherford AVA, on the gorgeous hillside not far from the famed restaurant and hotel Auberge du Soleil, has produced a winner in my retrospective of 2005s. This is clearly a great terroir, and that comes through in this savory, broad, expansive, pure 2005 Proprietary Red from Sloan. Offering black raspberry and blackcurrant fruit, silky tannins, notes of forest floor and spice box, and loamy soil undertones, the wine is dense, full-bodied, opulent, and just entering its plateau of maturity, where it should keep for another 15-20 years. This was one of the stunners in the great line-up that I tasted of 10-year-old North Coast Cabernet Sauvignons.