2014 Pahlmeyer Cabernet Sauvignon Piece de Resistance
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Tasting notes
Medium to deep purple-black in color, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Piece de Resistance has a beautiful spiciness to the nose, with notes of cinnamon, pepper, vanilla and cloves over a core of baked cherries, crème de cassis and blueberry compote with touches of cigar box and pencil lead. The full-bodied palate simply explodes with powerful black berry preserves and spicy flavors, supported by plush, velvety tannins and just enough freshness, finishing with lingering chocolate box hints.
Critic scores
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Piece de Resistance is powerful, rich and intense, with a good center of fruit. Torrefaction, smoke, new leather and licorice wrap around a core of ripe dark fruit. Today, the Piece de Resistance is quite closed. I suspect the relatively recent bottling has something to do with that. The Piece de Resistance is a barrel selection from Stagecoach, Ranco Chimiles and a third site in St. Helena.
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Piece de Resistance is wild and intense, with an almost unrestrained sense of power. There is no shortage of personality, yet the elements will need more time to come together. The 2014 is almost all fruit from Stagecoach, with about 15% estate fruit. At the moment, the wine is aging in 500 liter barrels, which is going to result in a slow maturation. At press time, winemaker Kale Anderson planned to give the 2014 30 months in barrel.