Niner Wine Estates, Paso Robles (Central Coast, California) 2010

 This wine was tasted blind by a panel at the San Diego International Wine Competition, sent forward to me with a score of 96–with which I can only concur.  I’ve had limited experiences with wines from Niner Wine Estates, but those experiences have been uniformly impressive, and this is certainly no exception.  The wine shows excellent color concentration with no hint of four years since vinification, followed by expressive aromatics and flavors that are centered on a core of intense blackberry fruit.  Pure but very powerful, those fruit notes are accented with lovely little nuances of spices, vanilla, cocoa and tobacco leaf.  The tannins are abundant but easily counterbalanced by the wine’s ripe, energetic fruit.  Simply terrific, this wine serves as an official announcement of a new star in the California wine firmament.  Platinum Award winner at the 2015 San Diego International Wine Competition.