- 2008 Stefania Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve Harvest Moon Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (11/4/2011)
These just arrived on Wednesday, but I have enough of them that I think I can afford to take one for the team here. Opened and decanted 2 1/2 hours at cellar temp. Dark ruby in the glass with tons of black fruits on the nose! Black cherry, blackberry, blueberry, boysenberry, it's a berry medly to say the least! Some nice hints of smoke and spice as well, and perhaps some toasted wood as well. On the palate, I was expected to get smacked in the face by oak considering this was 100% new oak, but not the case at all. In reality, I think it showed less oak when I first popped and poured it than it is right now. On the palate, some dark red cherry and cranberry are the shining stars here, and this is some classic Stefania. Tasting blind, I could tell in a heartbeat that this is one of their wines. Oak and alcohol are surprisingly integrated, and the wine is showing some nice tannic backbone. The finish shows more hints of cherry, and is a bit on the dry side. This wine is definitely on the young side, and will be fabulous with some time. Even so, it's drinking nicely now, and I think I will pop and pour another this weekend to compare versus this decanted version. Stay tuned for more! Cheers! I let this slow ox in the decanter uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours, and upon re-visiting this, the fruit is coming through, with some nice sweet berry ripeness. Some nice raspberry and boysenberry comes through, with a nice hint of spice and cinnamon. The oak is sweeter today, and the finish seems a bit longer than yesterday, with some sweet tannins. We'll see if this continues to evolve as it warms up in the glass, but this has definitely opened up nicely at 24 hours. Not sure I would know this is a SCM wine if tasted blind on day 2, and I don't know if that is good or bad. Regardless, these are going to age nicely, and should be a real joy in 5 years...if the case and a half lasts that long. Even so, give these a long decant right now and swirl away. My choice would be to let them age, but we'll see if I can keep my hands off of them. Great job Paul and Stef. Quite possibly my favorite Stefania yet.
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), but I remember a general impression of this bottle and thinking "another solid Stefania". Certainly nothing thin and acidic.