Estate Vineyards Les Pavots Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Tasted blind. Dark scarlet. Not showing much age. Great fruit forward nose. Cherries, warm berry pie, herbs and a hint of menthol. A lot of power in the mouth. Maybe a bit overripe? Medium finish. Thought Zinfandel, then Cab. Guessed mid 90s Cal Pinot. I liked this a lot more at the end of the night vs the first tastes.

Absolutely delicious. Fully resolved tannins. At the perfect spot of secondary versus primary fruit. Lovely.

Plenty of life. A meaty minty-ness. Very interesting.

In magnum. Despite very slight cork taint, the wine was pretty impressive with long finish, lots of fruit. Could go 10 plus years more.

1996 vintage. Tasted most recently on 8.2.24 (9.6) and that bottle was slightly better. Tasted out of magnum in 2023 and that rated as highly as the previous mention (9.6). This had a really nice fill, good cork and was decanted (throwing pretty big sed). Tasted after an hour. Gorgeous and with plenty of power but just barely dialed down from 11 with this bottle. Has this exalted winery made a better bottle of red or white wine in their entire existence? Not in my experiences. 9.29.24.

1996 vintage. Open but not decanted. Pretty serious sed. Tasted one hour after opening. A bit tight at that time, yet, the effort, quality and experience all up front and center. Still the best wine this property has ever made. Possibly 3-4 more years at this apex. A maggie would extend it to 5-8 years. Wow. Just wow. 8.2.24.

Thanks

Rockin'.

Might be slightly past its prime..
Still terrific though...!

Beau bringing the heat. Nice layers and spice for an old man (wine).