Donelan Hillside Vineyard Cabernet 2023

I can remember the first time I tasted the wines by Joe Donelan. They absolutely floored me. Back then the wines were made under the name Pax. After a business separation, his wines have been named under his namesake since 2008. They are some of hardest wines to get. Donelan is a boutique winery focusing on small-batch wines, made in tiny quantities and snapped up by wine lovers who are in the know. We get a tiny allocation and I have just received the Donelan Hillside Vineyard Cabernet 2023. This is a truly great expression of Cabernet and unfortunately very little available. Donelan specially made this wine to emulate the great balanced style Cabernet’s of the 70′ and 80’s, lower in alcohol, reminiscent of the great Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabs of that time period. Classically styled, superb clarity and precision.  The vineyard lies near Skipstone, encompassing sites such as T-T Vineyard, Obsidian, and Constant on Diamond Mountain. Only 215 cases were of this liquid gold!