2015 - Maestro Raro, Felsina

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Maestro Raro is a wine of brooding density and muscular might. The bouquet is chiseled and extra tight with all levels of black fruit and spice packed tight at its core. That bounty is yearning to be released, as it will when the wine is further down its evolutionary course. I actually felt a moment of pause tasting this wine so young because I am confident that the best is yet to come. It would be a real shame not to wait. Tart blackberries and cherries segue to tar, spice, cola and crushed river stone. That tannic tightness on the close still needs time to soften. Only 6,500 bottles were made, but this is a terrific, terrific value.

The 2015 Maestro Raro (Cabernet Sauvignon) is very good, but it also needs to be taken on its own terms, as the warm vintage has baked out most of the varietal character this wine can show in more favorable years. A rush of super-ripe dark cherry, plum, chocolate and spice notes flesh out. In 2015, the gap between Maestro Raro and the top wines in the range is quite large.