Cabernet Sauvignon, 2013. Prizm

This selection was a rare find, even for us. First and foremost, to taste a wine of this quality and substance with eight year of age to complex further, is almost impossible. But, then again, that's what we do. The wine was crafted by D'Anbino Winery in Paso Robles. The name is a contraction of the names of the owners, John D'Andre and Carmine Rubino. The two were raised as brothers (Carmine's mother was John's grandmother) on the East Coast in an Italian neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey.

Making wine at home was basically a rite of passage for every Italian family on the East Coast. Each year, a carload of grapes would arrive from California and a week-long celebration of crushing began. After the wines settled and were put in barrel, a celebration would ensue that would last as long as the wine. John and Carmine are both creative and passionate people. Both are musicians in the entertainment business. In spite of living on different coasts, they still got together often with their families to celebrate.

Finally, in 1996, they joined forces and founded D'Anbino. They planted their vineyard, which is now organic and biodynamic as well as completely sustainable. Those may be the reasons the wine shows no sign of age, yet its complexity is of another world. The deep violet color looks like a wine that was made a week ago. The blackberry, vanilla and dark chocolate stream through the senses and create an amazing amalgam of flavors fit for tenderloin of wild boar or chateaubriand.

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