Estimate
...a magical wine any way you look at it, this deep purple-colored beauty reveals a heavenly bouquet of crème de cassis, camphor, purple iris, and violets. It’s full-bodied and massive, yet still just dances across the palate with no sensation of weight or heaviness... ...has the purity, balance, and structure to keep for 3-4 decades. Hats off to the brothers Alex and Graeme MacDonald for this legendary wine. (January 2019)
...comes bounding out of the glass with exuberant black cherries, warm cassis, blueberry compote and chocolate box notes with touches of aged meat, yeast extract, chargrill and sautéed herbs with hints of pain grille and pencil lead. Full-bodied, the palate is an exercise in poise, with beautifully balanced, crushed black fruits and firm, very finely grained tannins plus a lovely backbone of seamless freshness, finishing epically long and savory with a slight mineral kick to the finish.
...Gravel, crème de cassis, bittersweet chocolate, spice, lavender and menthol develop in the glass over time... ... Time in the glass brings out a more red-toned and floral profile... ...Readers who can find the 2016 should not hesitate, as it is superb.
Very concentrated, this moves slowly but with authority, as the core of cassis and mulled plum fruit is laced with plum pit, stony mineral, light savory, alder and incense notes.