On our last trip to SMV, we decided to check out Foxen since it’s among the oldest commercial wineries in Santa Barbara County (founded in 1985) and really enjoyed the wines. A local shop in town picked up this bottle from an estate sale and was offering it at a reasonable price ($50), as-is so I decided to take a chance on it.

The wine is medium ruby at the core fading to garnet, with a pale tawny rim. On the nose, it’s got oxidative port notes, a bit of nuttiness and mostly desiccated fruit like dried prunes, and hints of leather. The palate is quite similar, though the fruit dominates due to the RS (I’d guess maybe 3g/L). Tannins are almost fully resolved but still present, and very elegant and fine-grained. The acid is quite low, M-.

In 1997, I was still in my freshmen year in college and was at least a couple years before I started to learn about and drink wine. An interesting wine for the history but this was far from an exceptional wine.