2019 "Select Barrel Reserve" Malbec

Among the richer, more ambitious bottlings of California Malbec around, Patland's 2019 is a fleshy, big-bodied version loaded with concentrated, very ripe black cherry and mixed berry fruit wrapped up in a generous measure of creamy oak. Though it is young and moderately tannic, it avoids daunting toughness to the degree that it will serve as a more-than-satisfactory partner to a juicy steak in the near term. Its structure, its depth and its clear promise of more layered complexity all point the way to even better things should it be tucked away in the cellar and left to rest for another four or five years. - Connoisseur's Guide to California Wine