The 2017 Pym-Rae comes from a more challenging vintage that featured a dramatic heat spike on Labor Day weekend and fires during harvest. Nevertheless, the fruit was harvested all pre-fire, and it's a beautiful wine revealing ample black fruits, scorched earth, tobacco, and graphite-like aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it shows the vintage's more focused, elegant style and has beautiful concentration as well as a great finish. While I suspect it has fewer tannins than the 2016, they're more present and focused, which is very much in the style of the vintage. This elegant, concentrated, classic Bordeaux-like Mountain Cabernet will evolve nicely for another 25+ years.
by JD, Jeb Dunnuck , 2021
Rather rich, flamboyant and decadent with bright raspberries, mushrooms and bark. Full-bodied, yet very tight and refined, with firmness and length. Racy and fine for a 2017. No cabernet franc in the blend, just cabernet sauvignon and merlot.
by JS, James Suckling , 2021
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2017 Pym-Rae leaps from the glass with bold notions of black cherries, mulberries, plum preserves and dark chocolate with an opulent undercurrent of Indian spices, potpourri, sandalwood and cinnamon stick. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with rich, seductive black fruit preserves and an explosion of exotic spice sparks, framed by firm yet beautifully plush tannins and fantastic tension, finishing very long and achingly fragrant. Possessing loads more weight and mid-palate density than a lot of 2017s, this second showing is an absolute knock-out. Due to strict selection, only around 1500 cases were made this year.
by LPB, Robert Parker , 2019
A powerful wine with tremendous depth and complexity. In 2017, no Cabernet Franc was harvested because of fires. And it shows that the vintage is more fruit-forward, with a wealth of beautiful crushed stone minerality. Full-bodied with a black-fruited profile that, in 2017, weaves in nuances of red tones and Bay Laurel and scrub brush accents. There’s so much stealth to the sturdy tannin structure. It's a vintage that needs more time, but it is perfectly enviable now with a good decant. Rich, toasty oak and chocolaty notes emerge through the finish.
by JC, Decanter , 2023
The logo is a drawing of the Daily Planet globe which hangs from the ceiling in the entry hall at the estate. It was a gift from actor Christopher Reeve (Superman), who was grateful for Robin William’s help after his accident. The Tesseron family wanted to keep this symbol which represents the biodynamic philosophy that runs through the property.