Unshackled is the more accessible sibling label of The Prisoner Wine Company, now owned by Constellation Brands and based in St Helena, Napa Valley. The Cabernet Sauvignon is drawn from vineyards across California, allowing the team to blend fruit from a range of climates and soils – from warmer inland sites that give ripe blackberry weight to cooler zones that preserve freshness and dried-herb lift. The 2021 California vintage was a low-yielding, high-quality year following continued drought, with a mild growing season and cool nights producing small, concentrated berries with excellent colour, ripe tannin and expressive aromatics of dark fruit, clove and dried herbs.

The fruit is fermented parcel by parcel in stainless steel with frequent pump-overs to build colour and a soft, structured tannin profile, in keeping with the brand's approachable, fruit-driven house style. Small portions of complementary red varieties are blended in to add spice and mid-palate depth. Malolactic fermentation softens acidity, and the wine is matured in a mix of French and American oak, some new, for roughly ten to twelve months, adding subtle clove, toast and vanilla without masking the dark stone-fruit core. It is bottled young and fresh for early, generous drinking.