Juicy blackberry, Cuban tobacco, strawberry puree. Clean dark cherry, crushed gravel, reduced pomegranate. Fresh violet and botanical garden, spearmint and star anise. Gorgeously delineated, spilling out oodles of pure currant, raspberry, and barely ripe blueberry onto vanilla, dried basil, and new leather. Orchestrally composed to emphasize treble, while bass tones pulse purposefully beneath. Balanced, expressive, and rife with the most interesting delicate power. This 2014 Lineage by Lineage Wine Company is a brilliantly elegant Bordeaux Blend from Livermore Valley.

Steven Kent Mirassou is a sixth generation American winemaker operating out of California's Livermore Valley. His passion for his craft has led him to the creation of Lineage - a singular Bordeaux Blend released every year designed to showcase the very best of Livermore and of his family pedigree. This bottling, crafted from a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot from the 2014 vintage, is an absolute triumph. It writhes with subdued tension while possessing a unique and almost Burgundian weightlessness. This stuff is fresh, clean, and expansive exhibiting gorgeously textured tannin and impressive acidity. Medium plus in body, this is classic in the very best sense of the word and does not sacrifice a morsel of complexity. This is a wine made with the lofty aim of earning a place at the table with the very best the world of wine has to offer, and we feel it hits the mark. Simply wonderful.