2008 Levy & Mc Clellan Red

The 2008 Red Wine Napa Valley is a huge, plush wine bursting with dark fruit, smoke, ash and licorice. Today the tannins are firm and quite imposing, but the wine develops nicely in the glass, hinting at what is to come over the next handful of years. Floral notes add perfume and brightness on the finish. This is a very beautiful, brooding wine graced with considerable class and personality.

The 2008 Red Wine Napa Valley is a huge, plush wine bursting with dark fruit, smoke, ash and licorice. Today the tannins are firm and quite imposing, but the wine develops nicely in the glass, hinting at what is to come over the next handful of years. Floral notes add perfume and brightness on the finish. This is a very beautiful, brooding wine graced with considerable class and personality. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2023. Bob Levy and Martha McClellan have built impressive track records over the years. Levy has been the winemaker at Harlan Estate since the winery’s inception, while McClellan makes wines for a small number of clients, including Sloan and Checkerboard. Levy and McClellan’s hillside vineyard is located on the western slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains and is planted on volcanic and sedimentary soils at an elevation of 500-600 feet above sea level. The Red Wine is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with a dollop of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. In recent years, Levy and McClellan have moved towards more smaller-lot fermentations in French oak barrels. Tel. (707) 963-1281

Bright ruby-red. Inviting aromas of crushed blackberry, violet, licorice pastille, minerals and sexy wood spices; smells sweet! Then broad and seamless on the palate, with excellent juicy lift to the flavors of black raspberry, espresso and minerals. Firm acidity gives this terrific wine a more linear character than the plusher, more exotic 2007 (95+?), but it finishes with extremely fine tannins and lovely verve.