2019 L'Ecole No 41 Apogee Pepper Bridge Vineyard

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Malbec, 5% Cabernet Franc. Medium ruby in colour. Beautifully classic nose with tobacco and ripe red and black cherry and plum. Nice concentration of flavours on the palate with tight, grippy tannins that need a couple of years to relax. Fresh acidity carries that fruit on a lengthy finish. (SCJ)

Dusty and floral in the glass, the 2019 Apogee Pepper Bridge Vineyard shows masses of black berry fruits, earth, sawdust and tobacco. This is cool-toned and silky in feel, yet quickly gains in tension, as tactile wild berry and minerals saturate the palate. The 2019 finishes structured yet with a mentholated freshness to balance, as hints of mocha and exotic spice slowly fade. This is a vintage for the cellar. The Apogee is a compelling blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Malbec and 5% Cabernet Franc that’s refined for 22 months in 40% French oak.

The 2019 Apogee Pepper Bridge Vineyard checks in as 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Malbec, and 5% Cabernet Franc, and it's another impressive release from this team. More lifted, perfumed, and red and blue-fruited, it has lots of floral and spicy nuances, as well as an obvious sense of chalky minerality that shows on the palate. Medium to full-bodied, with good acidity and building tannins, it's one of the more structured, tannic, backward wines and needs 2-3 years of bottle age. As with the other cuvées here, you should expect upwards of two decades of prime drinking if stored properly.