Estimate
The wine's powerful density comes from the black-currant flavors and tannic core. Wood, leather and concentration all show in the aromas...serious, powerful wine...
Utterly captivating on the nose, fragrant and floral with soft orange flecks, sweet cedar and cinnamon. Textured like heavy silk, weighty with a hold to the tannins...offering energy and focus. Precision and density, finessed layering that lets the wine deepen and expand over time.
Unfurling in the glass with aromas of dark berries and cassis mingled with notions of cigar wrapper, violets and pencil shavings, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated with a deep and multidimensional core of fruit framed by beautifully refined tannins and girdled by lively acids, concluding with a long, penetrating finish.
...very tannic and powerful with currant and salty undertones. Inky. Blackberry and blackcurrant, too. Full-bodied with lots of power at the end.
...flat-out brilliant... Cassis, graphite, lead pencil shavings, crushed stone, and an almost bloody, salty character...medium to full-bodied, with a great mid-palate, ripe, polished tannins, and a great finish.
Shows a rare level of finesse, depth and balance in this vintage, with a stream of black currant coulis carried by a pinpoint of acidity, while charcoal and sweet tobacco accents run along the edges. The long, iron-tinged finish offers a late hint of violet and almost no grain.
...beautifully defined on the nose: blackberry, raspberry, still that subtle marine element, a hint of Japanese wakame and shucked oyster shells...very well integrated... The palate has exquisite balance—very poised and pure...there is convincing tension and a judicious dab of spice toward the finish that fans out and lingers.