2006 BOND Vecina

Deep ruby-red. Reticent, almost mute nose hints at black cherry and licorice. Shockingly backward and primary for the vintage, with strong acidity and a firm spine of tannins keeping the dense cassis, blackberry and dark chocolate flavors locked up. The chocolatey character continues through the chewy, saline, powerfully tannic finish. Tough going right now, and one of the drier wines of the day. Will it ever really unwind? Early on, I described this wine as like a Médoc on steroids, but today I wonder if it will ever truly unwind.

The 2006 Vecina has turned out even better than I expected last year. Graphite/lead pencil notes intermixed with hints of burning embers and charcoal, an opaque purple color, and sweet blackberry and roasted espresso notes are all present in this wine, which is masculine, muscular, tannic but incredibly well-endowed and a potential candidate for 30 years of aging. This wine needs 4-5 years of cellaring and should last three decades. To reiterate what I have written in the past, Bond is the world-class project of Harlan Estates owner Bill Harlan. It is a simple concept—take 20+-year leases on some of the finest vineyard sites in all of Napa Valley, bring in your own winemaker (the well-known Bob Levy, along with Michel Rolland in the background) and produce these single-vineyard wines, with the stuff considered not good enough culled out and blended together into their second wine, called Matriarch. All of these wines are aged for nearly two years in 100% new French oak and bottled with no fining or filtration. They are all meant for 25 or even possibly 35+ years of aging. There are now five separate vineyards in the Bond portfolio. Quella comes from a 10-acre vineyard in Spring Valley near Howell Mountain, planted on volcanic white ash called tufa. The St. Eden comes from a valley floor vineyard in the Oakville corridor. Melbury is from Pritchard Hill, overlooking Lake Hennessy, Vecina a east-facing hillside neighbor to Harlan Estate, and Pluribus a Spring Mountain vineyard overlooking St. Helena. The 2006s, which seemed tannic and unevolved last year, have put on weight, elegance, and for the most part, showed in the upper point ranges I gave them last year from barrel.

Deep ruby. Brooding, superripe, distinctly cabernet aromas of blackberry, cassis, violet and espresso. Sweet, densely packed and thick, with powerful flavors of crushed cassis and tobacco lifted by violet and licorice. Almost youthfully gritty today and in need of bottle aging to show its underlying shape. The huge tannins coat the front teeth and saturate the entire palate. Like a top Medoc wine on steroids.