2009 Viader Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend (OWC)

“Made from 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc, it has every hallmark of a young Napa Valley Bordeaux blend. It’s dry, smooth and complex in tannins, with balancing acidity and an incredible array of flavors, including blackberry, black currant, cherry, chocolate, dried herb, smoky oak and spice. It has that important but hard-to-define quality of sophistication.” (12/2012)

“Deep garnet colored, it comes splashing out of the glass in fragrant waves of red and black currant preserves, kirsch, oolong tea and menthol with hints of crushed rocks, pencil shavings, woodsmoke and charcuterie. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers fantastic freshness and a chewy texture supporting the perfumed fruit through the long, savory finish. (LPB)” (01/2020)

“Full, bright ruby. Very ripe but fresh scents of blackberry, licorice, minerals, espresso and dark chocolate. Thick and large-scaled for this bottling, but still with the energy of the vintage's better examples to frame its chewy flavors of black fruits, graphite and chocolate. (ST)” (07/2019)

“Tight and well-built, with firm, grainy-gravelly tannins, but also a pleasant core of dark berry fruit that folds into a forest floor loaminess. (JL)” (10/2012)