Freedom Run 2018 Estate Meritage Appassimento Red (Niagara Escarpment)

This is as rich and full-throttle as you might imagine from a fruit that was, in large part, air-dried Amarone-style in the family's historic barn. The 15.5% alcohol confirms it. The red and black fruit has a stewed, jammy quality, and the sweet, chocolate-and-toast oak is prominently on display. There's also a more appealing minty, herbal nuance. Tannins are tightly wound, drying and oak-driven. But the herb-flecked fruit is there, too. A divisive bottling but one that deserves props for scribbling outside the lines. Christina Pickard