2017 Bella Oaks Proprietary Blend

The 2017 Proprietary Red Wine is a wine I tasted from barrel that I then missed from bottle, as the estate chose to release the 2018 first, and this wine fell through the cracks. Several recent bottles of the 2017 have all been sublime. Readers will find a wine that shows the mid-weight, approachable style of the year off to great effect. Silky tannins wrap around dark-toned fruit, mocha, spice, licorice and chocolate. The 2017 is an elegant, beautifully balanced Cabernet Sauvignon to drink now and over the next decade or so. If I have any quibble with the 2017, it is that the oak is a bit evident. I suspect much of that has to do with the mid-weight structure of the wine itself.