Maybach Family Vineyards Amoenus 2014
Parker (95-97)
“The 2014 Amoenus comes from a western hillside vineyard near Calistoga that is actually cooler than the general area. This wine always exhibits plenty of crushed rock, wet gravel minerality, notes of forest floor, spring flowers and copious quantities ofblackberry and crème de cassis with a hint of lead pencil shavings and pen ink. The 2014 is dense and full-bodied, but with low acidity and ripe well-integrated tannin. It is strutting its stuff, however it should be even better with 5-7 years of bottle age and last 25-30 years. They produce 330 cases of this glorious wine that tips the scales at 14.7% natural alcohol.”
The 2009 Pingus was released last year, but it should still be pretty available. It was harvested on October 5 and 6 under perfect conditions. It is a powerful and concentrated vintage for Pingus. I’m amazed at how much the wine integrated with one extra year in the bottle – the aromas are more precise, starting to reveal the true personality of the wine. The nose is very perfumed and balsamic, with notes of violets and ripe, juicy fruit, quite high-pitched. The oak is well-integrated into the wine. The palate is very powerful, full-bodied, concentrated but balanced, and wearing its 14.5% alcohol lightly, in a very difficult combination of power and elegance, with abundant but silky tannins. Very long aftertaste. 5,600 bottles were produced. Drink: 2015-2035
