2010 Freemark Abbey "Sycamore" Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon

“The brilliant 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyard (another Rutherford site on Bella Oaks Lane) is a blend of 85.4% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6.5% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot aged 28 months in barrel. It boasts an opaque purple color, terrific notes of licorice, creme de cassis, charcoal, forest floor, baking spices and earth, as well as a full-bodied mouthfeel with great fruit intensity and purity. This savory, mouthfilling beauty is best drunk over the next 20-25 years. Now owned by Kendall-Jackson, but with long-time winemaker Ted Edwards still firmly in control, Freemark Abbey has produced a large assortment of wines ranging from very good to exceptional. (RP)” (10/2013)

“Good bright red-ruby. Highly aromatic nose combines cassis, black pepper and brown spices. Richer and more horizontal than the Bosche, with bright acidity framing and lifting the somewhat cool flavors of dark berries and clove. This juicy, firmly structured wine finishes with sweet tannins and very good breadth but will need at least four or five years of bottle aging to express itself. Winemaker Ted Edwards describes this rather muscular wine as Bosche's big brother. Potentially the best Freemark Abbey wine in years.” (05/2013)

“Loads of ripe fruit for the vintage with dried-blueberry, grape-skin and black-licorice character. Full body, medium-chewy tannins and a juicy, ripe fruit finish. Full throttle but just held back in a reasonable way. Better in 2016.” (05/2014)