The 2009 The Galvo Garage is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Petit Verdot and 10% Mourvedre. Deep garnet-purple in color, it offers notes of creme de cassis and black currant cordial over mint, cloves and pencil shavings and a whiff of cinnamon stick. Ripe, rich and full bodied, it’s well structured with a firm level of chewy tannins and gives a long, slightly herbal finish. Drink it now through 2018+. The d’Arenberg winery is 100 years old with a fourth generation Osbourne in charge today of this now considerable operation. Graduated from Roseworthy College in 1983, Chester was expected by his father to change things when he took over the family business. Instead he went back to tradition rather than modernizing. In the d’Arenberg vineyards there is no cultivating, fertilizing or herbicides used – Chester compares these artificial means to growing plants hydroponically. Looking to continually improve the root systems of his vines, he rarely irrigates. Average yields are 1.7 tons per acre. “2011 was actually a great year for us,” Chester informed me. “We didn’t have any problems with rot.”Importer: Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA, www.oldbridgecellars.com