2005 Pluribus Cabernet Sauvignon

Bright medium ruby. Inky and a bit clenched on the nose and palate, with its black cherry, blackberry and licorice elements underscored by strong rocky minerality. This powerful wine finishes with serious tannic clout and a slight dry edge, with repeating flavors of black fruits and licorice. The least giving of the 2005 Bond wines today.

Bright ruby-red. Very ripe aromas of brooding blackberry, blueberry, licorice and minerals, with complementary oak spices; conveys a strong impression of soil and rocky minerality. Wonderfully dense and deep, if still a bit impenetrable. The slightly porty flavors of black fruits, minerals and menthol are still a bit youthfully monolithic and evolving very slowly. Finishes with powerful but ripe tannins and strong, nicely integrated acidity. If the Melbury reminds me a bit of Pomerol, this wine is more Latour-like.

The 2005 Pluribus is from a relatively high-elevation vineyard on the steep slopes of Spring Mountain and planted in the white tufa volcanic bedrock of that area. This is the most northern vineyard of the Bond estates, and this wine was just incredible. By far, the biggest, most backward and massive of all the 2005s, this wine behaved as if it were three or four years old, rather than 10. Dense purple, it offers notes of blueberry liqueur, St.-Estèphe-like earth, licorice and a gravelly note with incredible depth, lots of blackberries, and a finish that goes on for 45+ seconds. This is incredibly youthful and dominated by the blue and black fruits that are so much a part of the Spring Mountain AVA. This wine needs another 3-4 years of cellaring and should keep for 30-40+ years and turn out to be a fabulous classic from Bond Estate. All of these wines are made in relatively limited quantities, and primarily sold via the winery mailing list.