Gemstone Estate Red 2013 (75cl, 14.9%)

A Bordeaux-style red blend from Yountville, Napa Valley, California, bottled at 14.9% ABV in a 750ml bottle. Gemstone Vineyard farms a compact 16-acre estate in Yountville. The 2013 blend is 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, from micro-blocks including 13 Cabernet Sauvignon heirloom clones. Fruit was double-sorted, then whole-berry fermented for 35 days with indigenous yeasts before ageing 18 months in high-end oak barrels. The wine was bottled unfiltered and unfined. The nose opens with concentrated blueberry and dark cherry cola, then mocha, creamy vanilla and iron-tinged minerality, with tobacco and smoke. On the palate, ripe dark berries and cassis coat the palate, broadening into jammy red stone fruit, wet leather and baking spice, with opulent sweet tannins. The finish is long and layered, with dark chocolate, cedar and dried cassis.