Abreu Thorevilos

The single-vineyard offering from Thorevilos is usually a blend of 80–85% Cabernet Sauvignon with a good dosage of Cabernet Franc added to finish out the wine, and occasionally a touch of Petit Verdot. This pure, steep hillside vineyard is planted in what they call tufa, or white volcanic ash-based soils. The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Thorevilos is borderline perfection, an unreal wine with notes of crushed rocks, acacia flowers, blueberry pie, and creme de cassis intertwined with a bit of smoke, espresso roast, and chocolate. The wine is phenomenally rich, has great nobility, purity, and a finish that goes on for just over a minute. This is an amazing wine that, like its stable mate the Madrona Ranch, seems to have softened considerably in the last year of bottle age. It can be drunk now or cellared for 20–25+ years.