Aequitas Vineyards Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Atlas Peak, USA 2021

The 2021 Aequitas Vineyards Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the bouquet is a pleasant fusion of darker fruits and baking spices. These scents include dark cherry, Pakistani mulberry, blackberry, dark chocolate, cocoa powder, espresso, dark soy sauce and sweet pipe tobacco. If wines could smell luxurious, this bottling is an ideal candidate. Dark fruited, the palate offers flavors mirroring to some extent the bouquet, including of blackberry, dark cherry, mulberry and dark plum. Clearly this is a riper expression of the variety, but there is also an accompanying brightness here. And plenty of baking spices including cinnamon stick, cocoa powder, mocha and milk chocolate along with a note of tobacco spice. The tannins are well tumbled in their youth with a light gravelly character accompanied by a lingering dryness on the back of the palate.