What a lush, charming, wonderfully drinkable wine...terrific effort, starting from its intriguing spicy, peppery aromas. Those notes are seamlessly intertwined with impressively ripe fruit scents evocative of blueberries and cherries, while the full-bodied palate is plush, creamy and supple without being unstructured or overblown. Softly dusty tannins ground the finish, lending a sense of savory balance to this beauty.
...aromas of spiced blackberries and dark plums with chocolate notes, too. The palate has a round, silky feel with a mouthful of spicy dark-plum flavors, wrapped around long, even tannins.
Spicy and complex, with mocha, coriander, dried violet, clove and espresso overtones to the dense, succulent core of wild blackberry, dried blueberry and fig paste flavors on a muscular frame, with dense, toothsome tannins.
...ripe cherry and plum fruit and polished vanillin oak at the fore. There are quite pronounced herbs and spices here, too—eucalyptus, cracked pepper and bay leaf. The palate is silky with herbal tannins and a touch of heat from the alcohol.
...great deal of pleasure and can already be broached. Some heat on the end. Very light mintiness on the nose but beautifully balanced on the palate.