Jim Brand Silent Partner Cabernet Sauvignon 2022

A ‘silent partner’ is the steady hand behind the scenes, this wine honours Jim Brand, whose ‘passion spoke much louder than his words’. To me, Cabernet Sauvignon shares this quality, a variety that acts rather than speaks – with a message both poignant and lasting. In the glass, the wine offers layers of concentration and complexity, savoury oak, mulberry, plum, graphite and sweet loam. The palate is vivid, with rhubarb-bright acidity and cherry cola, carried at length over a gravelly tannin path. Dark herbal tones of Italian amaro and pipe tobacco melt into a soft, supply finish.