2014 Arietta H Block Hudson Vineyard

The most expensive wine in the portfolio is the 2014 Proprietary Red H Block, a blend of 68% Cabernet Franc and 32% Merlot from the Hudson Vineyard in Los Carneros. A young, promising and youthful wine – elegance and power are combined in a deep ruby/purple wine with notes of forest floor, white flowers, blueberry, raspberry and firm tannin, but it is well-integrated and the wine medium to full-bodied with an almost ethereal delicacy when it moves across the palate. This is a beauty, still young and relatively unevolved, but promises to be sensational with another 3-5 years of bottle age and should keep for 20-25 years at the minimum.

Arietta's 2014 Red Wine H Block is delicate and quite pretty if taken on its own terms, but not as exciting or complex relative to what this site is capable of in the very best years. In this tasting, the 2014 comes across an unusually restrained and medium in body, with far less depth than it showed from barrel. The H Block is Arietta's Merlot/Cabernet Franc blend.

Cabernet Franc plays the leading role in the 2014 H Block, a wine that stands out because of its superb balance and integration, even at this early stage. Warm, resonant Cabernet Franc notes open up first, followed by layers of intense dark fruit that flesh out in the glass. Mocha, espresso, blackberry jam, cloves and licorice all meld into the super-expressive finish.