1985 Hess Collection - Cabernet Sauvignon California

This is the lowest score I have ever bestowed this wine. It was extremely hard, tough, lean, backward, and in need of another 4-5 years of cellaring. The color was still a dark, saturated, ruby/purple, but I was surprised by the noticeable acidity. No matter how much I coaxed the wine, not much emerged in terms of charm, fruit, or character. Other tasters seemed to find more in it than I did. For now, I found it to be a good to very good, compact example of Cabernet from this top notch winery. Interestingly, this was one of the few vintages when Hess Collection did not produce a Reserve wine.