2015 DuMOL Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard

There are some seriously good wines coming from this vineyard, which is on the edge of Oakville, and Smith’s 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard is up with the best of them. Awesome blue fruits, scorched earth, graphite and dried soil notes all emerge from this full-bodied, ripe, powerful Cabernet Sauvignon that still shows the purity, finesse, and elegance that’s the hallmark of DuMOL wines. It has the ripe, sexy fruit of the vintage, and will drink nicely for 20 years or more. I still remember tasting with Andy Smith while I was writing The Rhône Report and I was thrilled to be able to sit down and go through all of his wines on this occasion. Stylistically, Smith makes a fresh, vibrant style of wine, yet I never find them lacking for depth and or texture. Looking at the Chardonnays, these are made in a reductive, age-worthy style and the clear majority have distinctly Burgundian profiles. These are beautiful wines that, at least to my palate, surpass the quality of the Pinot Noirs, which are slightly more variable. Nevertheless, the top Pinot Noirs are certainly up with the crème de la crème of the region. While Andy favors a tight, age-worthy style of Chardonnay, the Pinot Noirs are made in a slightly more forward style. In addition to the Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, DuMOL also produces a handful of world-class Syrahs, as well as one of the top examples of Viognier coming out of California. Both the 2015s and 2016s reviewed here are terrific wines, with the 2016s showing slightly more balance and elegance, but you can’t go wrong with either vintage here.