(98 JD) The 2021 The Bard checks in as 83% Cabernet
Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot and Petite
Sirah. This beauty has a killer bouquet of cassis, spring flowers, graphite,
chalky minerality, and violets. This carries to a full-bodied, seamless, silky,
flawlessly balanced effort revealing fine tannins, a good sense of freshness,
and a thrilling finish.
(97 LPB) A blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 6% Cabernet
Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, and 1% Petite Sirah, the fruit for the 2021 The Bard
comes from sites across the valley, including some estate fruit and some
sourced fruit. Deep garnet-purple colored, it shoots from the glass with
vibrant notions of crushed black currants, red currant jelly, black
raspberries, and pencil shavings, giving way to notes of lilacs, dark
chocolate, and a waft of spearmint. The full-bodied palate is firm with ripe,
fine-grained tannins and a lively backbone framing the tightly wound red,
black, and blue fruit flavors, finishing with great length and a real skip in
its step.
