2016 Tench Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
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Tasting notes
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard is profoundly scented of creme de cassis, baked plums and blueberry pie with suggestions of tar, licorice, chargrill, crushed rocks and fertile loam plus wafts of baker's chocolate and licorice. Full-bodied, concentrated and chock-full of black fruit and earthy layers, it has a firm, velvety texture and just enough freshness, finishing on a lingering anise note.
Critic scores
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Lastly, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard comes from a site just beside Screaming Eagle and is a selection from vines planted in 1990. Aged 20 months in 75% new French oak, it shows the more elegant side to the vineyard, which normally produces a rich, full-throttle style of wine. Tons of purple fruits, graphite, chocolate, and some obvious minerality all flow to a full-bodied Cabernet that has a stacked mid-palate, beautiful tannins, and a great finish. It still has textbook Tench character yet holds onto the more classical, elegant style of DuMol. Drink it over the coming two decades or more.
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard is ripe, bold and flashy from the very first taste. Most of the Cabernets in the DuMol range capture a striking balance of ripeness and structure, but the Tench is easily the most flamboyant wine of the group. Super-ripe black plum, blackberry, spice and chocolate build in a full-throttle Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon that will delight readers who enjoy the more generous side of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
Explosive and powerful in the glass, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard captures all the intensity of this site on the valley floor in Eastern Oakville. Black cherry, plum, chocolate, spice and leather are some of the many notes that flesh out in this full-bodied, rich Cabernet. This is another hugely promising wine from Andy Smith and Du Mol.