2004 Bond "Matriarch" Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend

Just beginning to soften and open after a stubborn few decades. Tobacco and crushed mint leaf sit against blackberry and bilberry fruits that continue to be held by a firm frame of tannins. A stately Montrose that has a long future ahead, and is packed with the power and finesse that is so signature to this estate. Harvest September 22 to October 7. First year in the new stainless steel vat room. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. (JA)

The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Matriarch, which I had rated 93 in 2008, was fashioned from the lots culled out from the single-vineyard wines. This is the most open-knit and evolved of all these 2004s. Full-bodied with fabulously concentrated chocolaty, espresso, black currant and blackberry fruit notes, it is fragrant, silky smooth, broad, supple and altogether captivating. A brilliant project of Harlan Estates’ proprietor, Bill Harlan, these single-vineyard wines have been everything a Cabernet connoisseur could ever hope for since they were first released. Amazingly, these wines taste better with age than they did young, which is exactly what Harlan and his winemaking team of Bob Levy and consulting oenologist Michel Rolland are trying to prove. (RP)