2004 Juslyn Perry's Blend

The 2004 Perry’s Blend, which is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, emerges from fruit on Spring Mountain as well as Howell Mountain. There are 500 cases of this wine, which is showing better than it did from barrel last year. The wine has beautiful up-front notes of lead pencil shavings, sweet black currant and black cherry fruit intermixed with hints of licorice, underbrush, and spice. The wine is long, rich, beautifully textured, medium to full-bodied, and supple, with silky tannins in the finish. It should drink beautifully for 10-15 years. It seems to me that Juslyn is still somewhat under the radar for many wine consumers, but this is irrefutably an up-and-coming serious producer on Spring Mountain. Perry and Carolyn Butler, who own this magnificent 42-acre estate halfway up Spring Mountain, continue to fine-tune and increase the quality of their wines as the estate vineyards come into production. Their estate fruit is supplemented by purchases from some of the top growers in Napa, especially from Andy Beckstoffer’s vineyards in Napa. These wines have come on strong over the last three or four vintages, and they are brilliant examples of elegant Bordeaux-styled Cabernets, with freshness, outstanding aging potential, and beautiful purity and depth. Tel. (888) 875-9096; Fax (707) 967-8020