2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Roja Vineyard Oakville

Another Oakville Cabernet, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Roja Vineyard offers a spicy, complex nose of baked black cherries, plums, currants, bay leaf, sandalwood, and chocolate. This spicy, complex, savory Cabernet is full-bodied and has a wonderfully textured, seamless mouthfeel, present tannins, and a good finish. It's already a joy to drink yet is going to evolve for 20 years or more given its overall balance.

Tor's 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Roja Vineyard is rich, effusive and savory from the very first taste. Crushed red berries, rose petal, mocha, crushed rocks, new French oak and espresso race out of the glass. There is an energy to the Tierra Roja that is impossible to miss. Then again, that is the magic of the red soils in Eastern Oakville. The tannins could use a bit of time to soften, but they are already nicely in balance.

The four-acre hillside Tierra Roja vineyard is located on the opposite side of the Silverado Trail from the Oakville Cross Road. The vineyard is dotted with big rocks, and the soil is roja (very red). The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Roja Vineyard is deep garnet-purple in color, bursting from the glass with notes of red currant jelly, kirsch, blackberry pie and wild blueberries with suggestions of wild sage, potpourri, tobacco leaf and dusty soil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is softly textured and refreshing, delivering bags of red and black berry flavors and finishing with a lively herbal lift. 400 cases were made.