At this price, it is considerably more expensive than most everyday hybrid reds, but the difference is justified in my opinion: there is much more stuffing and elegance in the reserve than in the low-end bottlings.
13.5% alc. with an intense, saturated black-cherry hue; not inky as in hot years. Big oak and black-cherry nose; very clean and precise, without the bacon-fat/brine whiffs that almost always show up in low-end versions. I know that Henry of Pelham uses their oldest Baco plantings for this wine (circa 1984) but the vines are given better crop control than the low-end ones, and as I've always said, this is an absolute must with hybrids: the vines are naturally given to overcrop, therefore it is imperative that their fruit load be thinned for adequate balance and ripeness, which are thereby clearly achievable.
And here we have the scoop on crop control, taken directly from Henry of Pelham's website:
Henry of Pelham wrote:The success of the Baco is nothing mysterious. Some others are making good Baco because they also reduce yields (either naturally on hard soils or by thinning), take care in winemaking and don't enter into the process thinking that they are making a 'cheap' wine - then you're doomed to get exactly that. The yields of Baco can be pushed to range upwards of 8 Tonnes/acre but ours are averaging 3.5 to 4 for our regular Baco, and 2.5 for the reserve. The fruit has to have some sun exposure to get the flavours, tannins, colour and chemistry right. Again this is pretty basic stuff but rarely applied to Baco (or other hybrids).
The wine was tart and rounded in the mouth and was superb with barbecued pork chops. In fact, I would say that it was too young and unintegrated; I should have decanted it for a couple of hours, though it was good as it was because the bottle was emptied within 10 minutes - and I had people asking if there was any more.