Daou Cabernet Sauvignon, Bodyguard Red Blend, 2018, Paso Robles, CA
Daou's 2017 'Bodyguard' is a sleek yet powerful blend of Petit Verdot and Petite Sirah, displaying both opulence and structure. The 2017 vintage presents fragrant fruit aromas of blackberry, raspberry, currant and crème de cassis. Notes of cocoa, coffee, dark chocolate, licorice, and sweet cherry pipe tobacco are rounded out with whispers of truffle, toffee, mocha, and menthol. A juicy, fleshy palate offers bright, generous flavors of cherry, cranberry, strawberry, and blueberry tinged with black raspberry and tamarind—all supported by underlying accents of dusty leather, pencil shavings, cigar box, and crushed herbs. An elegantly styled and beautifully structured finish reverberates with focused energy, vibrant berry fruit and ripe, polished tannins.
Critical Acclaim
A smoking value from this team is their 2017 Bodyguard, which is 70% Petit Verdot and 30% Petite Sirah. It’s a big, full-bodied beauty for those who love fruit, offering impressive cassis and blue fruits, violets, and peppery herb aromas and flavors. It’s a lot of wine for the cost and ideal for drinking over the coming 4-5 years, if not a lot longer.
In yet another stylishly packaged and powerful blend from the Daou brothers, this bottling combines hearty coffee, kirsch and pumice aromas with toasty vanilla and caramel on the nose. The tannic structure is soft and polished yet firm enough to uphold black-cherry, toffee and caramel flavors, which are bolstered by a black-rock minerality that lingers in the background