Curtis Gladiator 2021

The fruit comes from 80 year old vines, hand harvested and fermented over 28 days with wild yeasts. Matured in French and American oak for 36 months. There is plenty of density here for your dollars, with aromas of black cherry, rhubarb and dark plums. A grungey red gum bark that leads to more earthy things, some potting soil and black charcoal dust. The wine is decidedly dry on the palate with more of that immoveable black rock, some coffee grids and poppy seed. This feels born in the earth, those old vines telling a tale of decades buried deep underground. Tannins are gritty and placed in order for this wine to mature gracefully over 10-15 years further. This isn’t full of muscle and grit as a Gladiator might invoke, it is more a story of a vine that has endured and stands tall of its own merit and ability. A power move in your cellar but if its on the table, do it justice with a bone in shoulder roast.