Vineyard 29 Aida Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

The deep purple-black colored 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Aida Estate Vineyard comes strutting out of the glass like a total rock star, giving up flamboyant notes of warm cassis, blueberry compote and preserved plums with exciting sparks of kirsch, red roses, oolong tea, star anise and cigar box plus a touch of underbrush. Full-bodied, rich, bold and wonderfully decadent in the mouth, it fills the palate with black fruit preserves and red berry layers, supported by a firm, grainy line and finishing very long.

A powerful, explosive wine, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Aida Estate possesses tremendous intensity in all of its dimensions. Super-ripe black cherry, plum, bittersweet chocolate, scorched earth, leather, licorice and menthol all run through this potent, inky Cabernet Sauvignon. The tannins are present and quite potent, but also very nicely integrated. The Aida is mostly Clone 337 Cabernet, with dollops of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

Brought up in slightly less new oak, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Aida Estate is all from vines in St. Helena. It offers a blacker fruited, mineral-laced, structured style as well as plenty of chocolate, plums, graphite, and earth. This beauty is concentrated and stacked on the palate and presents a much more masculine style compared to the Estate release. Hide bottles for 3-4 years and it should be very long-lived.