2013 Alpha Omega Era

94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc. Dusty cedar and baking spice with toasted-birch aromatics. Sweet dark fruit and an oak-toast palate. The focus here is on oak rather than fruit. (ECB)

Alpha Omega’s 2013 ERA is a selection of the best lots from all of their single vineyards, and even though it is a proprietary red, this version is a blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Cabernet Franc. The wine is tightly coiled, very reserved, with relatively high tannin, but a saturated purple color, and shows notes of charcoal, incense, white flowers and black and blue fruits. It’s all there, but this wine begs for 5-8 years of bottle age before consumption. It should last for 25-30 years as well.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon ERA is heavy, powerful and extracted. There is no shortage of intensity here, but I don't see the rationale for bottling one more wine when the vineyard designate Cabernets are so clearly on another level.