Ovid - Red Wine 2021 (750ml)

Decanter 100 points
"Each year, the blend of Ovid wines varies depending on the vintage. Winemaker Austin Peterson prefers not to pre-plan the blend, instead approaching each vintage with a fresh perspective. Often, the wine needs more Cabernet Sauvignon to qualify as a Napa Valley varietal wine. The vineyard features an abundance of Clone 4, planted across four of its 17 blocks within the 6ha site. This clone contributes a distinctive savoury character and polish, evident in the 2021 vintage with its flinty minerals, green tobacco, and mulberry fruit, reminiscent of Napa Cabernets from the 1970s. Comprising 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot, the wine is aged 20 months in 66% new French oak. It is full-bodied with ripe, chewy tannins that assert themselves on entry but gradually soften, revealing a beautifully layered wine with mineral-infused mulberry fruit and green tobacco aromas. The wine exhibits notable tension, supported by a pH level 3.78, ensuring vibrancy and freshness. It is a pedigreed wine characterised by balance, intensity, and complexity."
Jeb Dunnuck 100 points
(OVID Cabernet Sauvignon) Moving to the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, it's 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, and the balanced 7% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. Insanely pure, it offers kaleidoscope-like aromatics of black and blue fruits, spring flowers, chocolate, burning embers, and bouquet garni. Full-bodied on the palate, it doesn't get any better, and it's concentrated, has building tannins, and a monster of a finish. Offering more generosity and opulence than just about every other wine in the vintage, this is a killer bottle of wine! It will make your eyes roll back in your head today, yet will ideally be given 4-5 years of bottle age and will evolve gracefully over the following two decades." 
Vinous 97 points
"The 2021 Ovid is another exceptional wine in this range. Dark shades of Cabernet Sauvignon fruit open first, followed by hints of leather, lavender, spice, tobacco and incense that lend complexity. Deep and structured, with notably finessed tannins for a young mountain wine, the 2021 delivers the goods. This is quite impressive in the early going, especially with time in the glass."