2021 Tench Vineyard The Calixtro Cabernet Sauvignon
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Selected from a portion of Block 1B that yields wine with a higher-acid profile, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard The Calixtro is more floral, brighter and juicier than the regular Tench Vineyard bottling, with ample cherry fruit. It's full-bodied, taut and tense, silky and elegant, but it lacks the richness and expansiveness of the top-rated wines in this tasting.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard The Calixtro is packed with inky dark fruit, crème de cassis, graphite, lavender, chocolate and menthol. Cabernets from Tench are always potent in feel, but the 2021 shows a more nuanced side here—especially in its tannins—while also delivering tons of the textural intensity that is such a Bevan signature.
Another structured, inward, yet incredibly impressive Cabernet Sauvignon in the vintage, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard The Calixtro offers a dense purple/plum color as well as full-bodied aromas and flavors of chocolate covered black cherries, iron, baking spices, and sandalwood. Already complex, deep, massively concentrated, yet focused and tannic, with good acidity, this brilliantly layered, insanely good 2021 needs to be forgotten for 4-6 years and will evolve for two to three decades in cold cellars.