The Ancestral is one of the first wines to disappear off the shelves at Hinterland. Pure fruit on the nose — red berries and red currants and strawberries and rhubarb, oh my, what a fun sparkling wine on the nose and on the palate. Yes, it’s sweet, but it’s a balanced attack of sweetness. I dare you to put your glass down after one sip.
From a top-notch vintage, this modern Barolo flaunts sweet cherry, plum, red flowers, anise and herbs. Once it hits the palate, the weight and tannins stand up and carry themselves with refinement, all the way to a lengthy exit. Hold until 2018 and drink for a good 2 decades.
Soft Merlot (56%) leads the charge, supported by Cab Sauv (29%), Petit Verdot (9%), Cab Franc (4%) and Malbec (2%) for structure and complexity. Pretty floral, herb and berry aromas set the stage. Rich, red fruits up front, while dark fruits linger, accompanied by cigar box and leathery tannins. Decant for marinated meats.
The Cabernet Sauvignon fruit is dried for 86 days then tucked away in all-new French oak barrels for 22 months and finished at 16% abv. It has a showy and concentrated nose of blackcurrant jam, blackberries, cherries, graphite, earth, tar, bramble and a crazy array of barrel spice notes. It shows waves of bountiful dark fruits, kirsch and raspberry accents, and a wall of tannins assertive enough to curl your tongue until the next sip. This wine is only beginning to show itself — those fine oak spices, sweet tobacco notes and mélange of lush fruit. Cellar 5+ years.
My preference in tequila is typically blanco, occasionally reposado. The issue I often have with añejo (particularly extra añejo) is that the extended wood aging starts to mask the agave character of the spirit. Espolòn manages to avoid this problem, possibly because the spirit is just “finished” in ex-bourbon barrels having spent the majority of its year-long aging in white oak. The result is an añejo that boasts loads of ripe, spicy, vegetal and agave notes with just a suggestion of caramel and Christmas cake. Very well-balanced in the mouth, the wood is perfectly integrated so as to enhance, not dominate, the herbal and earthy agave notes.
An exciting Muscat with a nose of peach, lime, herbs and fresh citrus fruits. It’s a touch off-dry and shows good concentration on the palate with wonderful flavours of lime-citrus, tangerine and peach to go with mouth-watering acidity that perfectly balances this wine.
Cabernet Franc struggled to achieve full ripeness in the relatively cool 2013 vintage. Wild raspberry, mint and cracked pepper meanders throughout from fragrant nose to medium-bodied palate to dry finish. Juicy acidity balances the firm tannins. Pairs well with roast chicken.