Wines Tasted - February 3, 2010

Pine Ridge Vineyards - Stags Leap District - Cabernet Sauvignon - Napa - 2007 - $80 - (Modern, Ager, Food Wine, Showpiece) - A nearly opaque deep ruby color that fades to a thin ruby/red rim, no sediment.  This SLD Cab opens with very lifted aromas of fresh black cherry, black plum, cassis and blueberry fruits.  To that mix I'll add, caramelized pecans, violets, cocoa and sweet vanillin.  A bone-dry wine in the mouth, it flashes its youth like a siren.  All fruits are confirmed on the palete, but with a texture thats closer to the skin than the pit, and the secondaries of cocoa, pecans and vanillin are pronounced through the finish.  Big and muscular in tannin and acidity, moderate+ in alcohol and length of finish, balanced and keenly blended.