As far as the tech sheet tells me, this was made in the same fashion as the cabernet, albeit the fruit was hand-picked as opposed to machine-harvested. The tannins are a little less forced, the overall texture more plush velour. Iodine and violet meld with plum, olive and a thread of peppery acidity, stamping the wine with varietal expressed in a warm to very warm climatic sense. James Halliday