Bond Estates Bond Vecina 2016 750ml

Blackberry, black-truffle, sliced-mushroom and dried-beef aromas. Full-bodied, broad shouldered and amazingly structured and layered. Dense, extremely long and intense. It’s seamless and goes on for minutes. Great wine. Give it time to give you even more. Better after 2022.

The 2016 Vecina is the most tannic and brooding of the wines, as it so often is. Swaths of tannin wrap around a core of black cherry, chocolate, new leather, licorice, spice and menthol. I would cellar the 2016 for at least few years to shed some of its youthful bombastic intensity. There is certainly no shortage of character or complexity. As always, Vecina emerges from choice parcels within Vine Hill Ranch.

Intense from the get-go, featuring dark currant and steeped plum fruit, wrapped in licorice root, warm gravel and espresso cream notes. The long, muscular finish smolders, with juniper and tobacco elements keeping pace with the fruit. Seriously built. Best from 2022 through 2038. 650 cases made.