The 2017 Eaba was bottled in August of last year and is 58% Syrah, 28% Mourvèdre, 11% Grenache, and 3% Viognier that saw 60% stems and 50% new French oak. This meaty, bloody effort has loads of spiced plum and darker fruit character as well as notes of iron, beef blood, spice, and peppery herbs. Full-bodied and gorgeously textured, with good acidity and ripe tannins, it's going to benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age and keep for 20 years as well. Winemaker Jim Binns continues to pretty much knock it out of the park in every vintage. His 2017s are unquestionably some of the greatest wines in the vintage, and the Mourvèdre (along with John Alban's The Mason Forsyth cuvée) is undoubtedly one of the finest expressions of this variety coming out of California today. These are powerful, full-bodied wines that make no excuses for their fruit or opulence while staying perfectly balanced, pure, and elegant. Readers should not miss these stunningly singular wines.

The very first vintage of this label, the 2017 EABA (ee-buh), will be bottled in August 2019 and is composed of 58% Syrah, 28% Mourvedre, 11% Grenache and 3% Viognier, employing 60% whole cluster. It is an uber-blend of Bien Nacido, White Hawk, Larner, Harrison-Clarke, Watch Hill and Alta Mesa Vineyards. It will spend around 22 months in French oak barriques, 50% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it has quite a savory/meaty nose, sporting notions of salami, black olives, tobacco, garrigue and tilled soil over a core of preserved plums and baked blueberries plus wafts of black pepper and rosemary. Full-bodied and super concentrated, the palate possesses a rock-solid structure with firm, ripe, rounded tannins and great freshness, finishing long with a minerally lift on the finish.

The 2017 EABA is a new wine in this range from Andremily and is built on a core of Bien Nacido Syrah, which is the largest component and represents 30% of the blend. The coolness of Bien Nacido and a higher percentage of whole clusters yields a wine of tremendous aromatic nuance, with expressive floral, savory, peppery notes that add striking shades of nuance. I can’t wait to taste it from bottle.