It might be enough to wave Robledo’s 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon to the nose.
Well, not really. A swirl unleashes a festival of fruits — buckets of blackberry and black cherry pour over your senses, bursting as they smack into worn cedar planks pulled from an old tobacco shed and slatted over muggy loam. Handfuls of black pepper scatter across the wood, almost distracting you from a hint of bitter chocolate.
It amounts to a siren call, aromas you wish to linger over, yet they tempt you — challenge your patience.
You must of course venture a hurried sip.
A wealth of blackberries, tinted by bright cherries, flood across your palate. Unlike the fruit bombs of California’s past, the frivolity lasts for just a moment before a tannic scaffold begins to enforce a balanced structure.
Soon the berry flavor clasps with dark chocolate. Raspy tobacco drifts into split wood. Soft spice picks up on hints of red licorice. After that first rollicking impression it becomes a deftly balanced wine, one that yields to a warming cracked pepper finish.
The tannins offer a firm grip, suggesting that, while the wine is beautiful now, it will continue to develop in the bottle.
Although Robledo occasional operates a tasting room in Lake County, they claim Sonoma as home. Yet the grapes hail from the local red hills.
Lake County terroir — and 18 months in American oak — account for the attractive character.
You will enjoy the bouquet of Robledo’s 2010 Cabernet. Oh, but you will be glad you tipped the glass to your lips.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
