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This lush, broadly structured, palate-coating effort is generously endowed with lavish, layered black-cherry/blackberry fruit and classy oak and is further complexed by nuances of chocolate and pepper-spice. While it is hugely gratifying for its intensity, depth, richness and amazing length, the components remain balanced, and wonderfully integrated tannins bring a sense of completeness to the package. Clearly, this wine never suffers from the overly ripe, tannic or alcoholic tendencies encountered in many offerings of comparable size and abundance, and it remains amazingly approachable for a wine of such youth. Still, its impeccable balance and classic structure leave little doubt about its amazing capacity for long-term aging.
This wine, Gary Farrell's 2001 Encounter, not only affords them the challenge to produce a region-specific wine, but also to develop a unique proprietary blend from the most noble Bordeaux varietal grapes. They harvest small lots of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot grapes from some of Sonoma County's most exciting "mountain" vineyards with the intention of crafting this wine. The vineyard components and varietal percentages may change from year to year, depending upon the combination yielding the finest wine.
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"Gary Farrell is indifferent to prevailing trends, and this Cab is a good illustration. Where most ’01s are rich and hedonistic, this one’s tight and firm in acids and tannins, almost undrinkable now. However, it has good prospects, for there is a tremendous core of fruit. Hold until 2007. — S.H. (11/1/2005)" -Rated 88, Wine Enthusiast
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