-
September 26, 2000
I hadn't heard of Forman before a friend gave me a bottle of '85 Cab, but I'll never forget it now. Having lived in the region, I have tried some phenomenal wines from small producers, but this is a standout by any definition. Brash and big, yet refined and subtle, when it comes to Cabernets, this wine is an oxymoron. It hits your nose like a fresh oak woodpile under the summer sun, full and earthy, but then tapers off, like a subtle whiff of fine perfume. When you taste it, you taste grapes. Not cherries or blackberries, chocolate or coffee, but grapes. Deeply sweet yet tinged by the tannic earth from which they've sprung, it rolls into your mouth with just the perfect balance, allowing your tongue to register its subtleties, and your cheeks to squirt into life, its heady aroma working up into your sinuses to complete the sensory assault. And an assault it is, an irresistable and tender coup of the palate, like love on your heart. I think you'll like it.
