2010 Bond, Melbury, Napa Valley 1x750ml

Vinous 97

Exotic, ripe and yet also quite structured, the 2010 Melbury is a picture-perfect example of a vintage that was mostly cool, until late season heat spikes pushed the fruit through to full ripeness. The aromatics are starting to show some signs of development, but the tannins need time to soften. This is an especially flamboyant edition of Melbury. Today, the 2010 is a stunner. [Antonio Galloni, 11/01/2017]

Anticipated maturity: 2020-2035

Robert Parker 98

From a higher site in the Pritchard Hill area, the 2010 Melbury appears to be prodigious, but is currently extremely backward. My notes indicate it should be forgotten for 7-10 years. With coaxing, this structured 2010 offers up aromas of blueberry liqueur, black currants, charcoal and spring flowers. It possesses gorgeous purity and remarkable incremental richness, but it is quite brooding and backward. Everything it needs for a great future is present, but patience will definitely be required. To quickly summarize this project that has been remarkably successful since the debut vintage, Bond is the project of the visionary Bill Harlan, the proprietor of Harlan Estate. Along with winemaker Bob Levy and consulting oenologist Michel Rolland, he continues to sign twenty-year leases on highly regarded vineyards planted with 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from which he offers consumers world-class Cabernet Sauvignons that showcase different Napa micro-climates/terroirs. In short, there are five separate vineyard sites in the Bond portfolio. The Melbury comes from a 7-acre parcel (sedimentary and clay soils) on steep slopes in the Pritchard Hill area near Lake Hennessey, east of Rutherford. The northern most parcel, the Pluribus comes from a high elevation (1,000 feet) site on Spring Mountain. It, too, is a 7-acre parcel planted in the white volcanic bedrock called tufa. The most southerly situated vineyard is Vecina (11 acres planted at 200-330 foot elevation), which is a neighbor of Harlan Estate in the Oakville Corridor, on the western hillsides of Napa. St. Eden, a valley floor vineyard, is composed of 11 acres on gentle foothills just north of the Oakville Crossroads. The Quella Vineyard is a 9-acre site in the eastern foothills of St. Helena with an interesting terroir of alluvial pebbles and small rocks of what is believed to be an old riverbed. White tufa can be found as well. Part of the objective is to vinify these wines in identical manners so that as they age their micro-climate / terroir characters become more pronounced. The barrels that are deemed not worthy enough to go into the individual single vineyard wines are blended into the Matriarch cuvee. Tel. (707) 944-9445 [Robert M. Parker, Jr., 31/10/2013]

Anticipated maturity: 2020-0