Baked and spirity, ripe dark cherry fruit. Warming, ripe fruit, rather chunky drying tannin.

Wattle Creek has done a good job with Cabernet over the years, and here’s another one. I don’t think ’04 was their best vintage, as the wine is a little raisiny, despite an official alcohol of only 14.1%. But it shows a classy structure, polished dryness and a good depth of varietal black currant fruit, accented with new oak. Probably best now and for a few years.——S.H.(12/15/2007)—— 87