As the 2005’s roll out, I am noticing lots of heavily tannic, dark fruit dominated wines. One winery I was at, mentioned that the fruit they picked had high brix levels (sugar levels), thus allowing the yeast to create more alcohol in the wines and thereby giving us fuller bodied age-worthy reds. 2005, in my opinion, is going to be the year of the blockbuster – wines to lie down to enjoy later and so far I have been proven right. This Cabernet blend from Maleta is a fine example of something that is going to need some time. Dark, cooked fruit greet the nose with hints of blackberries, black currants and black raspberries. The palate follows through on the darkness-on-the-edge-of-fruit department and also throws in some coffee and heavy tannins. Still a little closed this wine will require another 2-3 years of bottle age to open up a bit … then maybe a few more years to mellow.