2014 Sandlands Carignane - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Contra Costa County (12/2/2019)
After a few years in the cellar, this is beginning to turn a corner into a more complex and interesting place. It still has the wildness of Carignan, the red fruit alternating between sweet cherry and tart cranberry, with a touch of astringent crab apple. It has not added a green tobacco element, reminiscent of Cabernet Franc, and which makes the entire package much more interesting. Another two or three years could bring more definition to the complexity, and round out that crab apple astringency, but it's a good wine for the table right now.