2019 Peter Michael, Les Pavots, Knights Valley

This is very perfumed with blackberry and pine-cone aromas, as well as raspberries and black cherries. Full-bodied with firm, velvety tannins that are tight-grained. Creamy and beautiful. Currant and graphite flavors come through. Lightly chewy at the end. 60% cabernet sauvignon, 21% merlot, 14% cabernet franc and 5% petit verdot. Drink after 2025.

The 2019 Les Pavots is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, and the remainder Petit Verdot. It has unfolding layers of dark minerals, with graphite, boysenberry liqueur, and fresh leather. The palate is expressive of its mountain fruit, with more gripping structure but no harsh edges. This is a remarkable wine to hold a few years and enjoy over the following two decades. Sir Peter Michael founded his eponymous winery in 1982, after having been inspired by the wine of Chateau Montelena, which led him to California. In 2020, Robert Fiore took the helm as winemaker, but the previous winemaker, Luc Morlet, remains as a consultant. Robert studied at the Colorado School of Mines, which led him to a career in environmental geophysics, before finding his path into the world of wine. He went on to UC Davis to study Viticulture and Enology. Most recently, Robert was a member of the winemaking team at Continuum in Napa. Vineyard manager Javier Avina has championed the land since 1991. Each of the sites are steep hillsides that modulate with varied exposition and soils in the Knights Valley. Sir Peter’s son Paul and his wife Emily oversee the management of the winery today.

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Strong and rich nose, powerful and expressive with dark chocolate and dark black berry fruit. Stewed, concentrated, jammy, this is rich and abundant, generous in terms of fruit with a spiced, slightly iron-rich tang on the tongue. Vanilla and cinnamon give a sense of aromatic spice, alongside tobacco, scrubland notes and menthol elements. Quite direct, not so much expansion in the mouth, rather more focussed but with depth and length of flavour. Good freshness and I like the clarity you get on the mid palate. Long length, it's got the trademarks of Napa abundance but I like the nuance. Luc Morlet consultant. 5% Petit Verdot completed the blend. Ageing 18 months in 100% French oak barrels.

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot . There is a slightly smudgy edge to the fruit on the nose at the moment, though that might well be just a little rubbery reduction that will need time to settle. The palate is much more polished and refined, bringing sweet cassis fruit and warming alcohol that cloaks the ripe tannins in the middle. Layered on the finish, this will warrant a higher score with better definition on the nose. (TP)