Wine Advisor
Abreu, Las Posadas 2017
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2017 Las Posadas shows just how compelling Howell Mountain can be. The combination of a mountain site and a high percentage of Franc yields a wine of tremendous energy and pure, raw power. Inky dark fruit, gravel, scorched earth and chocolate open first, followed by swaths of Howell Mountain tannin that give the wine its personality and drive. Time in the decanter brings out the wine's imposing depth and textural resonance. This is a gorgeous rendition of Las Posadas.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2017 Las Posadas is wild, powerful and savory. Bittersweet chocolate, lavender, mint, pine, cloves and new leather all race out of the glass. The tannins are potent, but this is young Howell Mountain Cabernet we are talking about. The 2017 is going to need a few years to come into its own, but it is impressive, to say the least. There is a bit less Cabernet in the 2017, as the post-fire lots were not used in the final blend.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2017 Las Posadas is powerful, dense and also structured, a combination that is hugely appealing, especially on Howell Mountain, where young wines can be so forbidding. Beams of tannin give the 2017 its shape and energy. Although it is very young, the 2017 is another hugely promising wine from Abreu. Time in the glass brings out the wine's body, texture and natural richness.
About the Producer
Abreu's label concentrates exclusively on estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon blends. Distribution is limited and sold primarily to members on their direct mailing list. A number of online retailers offer Abreu Vineyards wine, from unknown sources, with prices ranging from $400 to $800 or more per 750ml. In 1998 wine critic Robert Parker included Abreu in his list of the "most influential wine personalities of the last 20 years".Parker awarded the 1997 Madrona Ranch cabernet a 100-point score, one of only 140 wines in the world to receive the honour. As of the 2013 vintage, Abreu Vineyards holds nine 100-point scores from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. In the "Judgment of Sauternes" of October 2006, the 1995 vintage Cabernet blend was judged the winner among Cabernet-Merlot blends from Bordeaux and California, 16 each, in a blind tasting arranged by the Grand Jury Européen. The 1999 production was 500 cases (45.000 hL; 1,188.774 U.S. gal). In the late 1990s, Abreu and Forman jointly leased and planted the 20-acre (8.1 ha) Thorevilos Vineyard. They released Abreu's first cabernet from that vineyard in 2000.
