2009 TOR Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Clone 337

Full medium ruby. Less pungent and more withdrawn on the nose than the Clone Six (sic) version, offering brooding, medicinal scents of black fruits and licorice. Highly concentrated but youthfully clenched, with its black fruit, licorice and mineral flavors showing limited sweetness today. This firmly structured, very long wine appears to be passing through a rather angular phase (it was much creamier when I tasted it within a year after its bottling) and should still be held. Its flavor intensity and serious tannic spine should support another 15+ years of development in the bottle. When I first reported on this wine, I predicted that, owing to its thickness and its noble tannins, I couldn't imagine it ever really shutting down in bottle. Wrong!

Aromatically, the wine opens with spicy black and red fruits with fresh herbs. Concentrated, long and rich, with round textures, this will drink well young.

Dark ruby-red. Wonderfully pure aromas of cassis, blackberry, flowers, spices, cedar and graphite. Lush, thick and sweet; this wonderfully elegant, creamy wine really glides down the throat. No rough edges here! Very sexy and complex cabernet with terrific breadth, noble tannins and outstanding length. It's hard to imagine a wine like this ever really shutting down in the bottle.