2012 Vecina Cabernet Sauvignon

Full ruby. Sexy, high-toned aromas and flavors of blackberry, blueberry, violet, graphite and crushed rock. Dense, quite powerful and hugely ripe but not over the top, displaying a captivating sweet/savory character and a surprisingly fine-grained texture, not to mention an element of inner-mouth perfume that's not so common in this very rich year. The resounding finish displays serious, youthfully brooding tannins and a sweet note of dark chocolate. This has the structure for a very long life in bottle.

From an 11-acre vineyard sitting near Bond’s winery and the Harlan estate, the 2012 Vecina is the perfect Napa version of a hypothetical blend of a La Mission Haut-Brion and Mouton-Rothschild. This is riveting Cabernet Sauvignon with great intensity, a killer fragrance of burning embers, charcoal, gravel, blackberry, cassis and earth. Fabulously intense and full-bodied, with majestic flavor intensity, a skyscraper-like mouthfeel, incredible purity and length, and supple tannins, this magnificent wine comes closest to the great Harlan Estate itself. Drink it over the next 35 years.

The 2012 Vecina is deep, powerful and intense. Scorched earth, smoke, leather, menthol and dark spices are some of the signatures. As always, the Vecina presents a powerful, vertical sense of structure, with more than enough tannin to keep for two decades. This is a decidedly brooding Vecina.