Good full red. High-pitched nose combines red berries, orange peel, rose petal and mint. Juicy and sweet but tightly wound today, with a mineral intensity giving definition and grip to the silky middle palate. This essentially smooth wine should repay a few years of bottle aging. Finishes with noteworthy persistence

Basel’s classic Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc is fragrant and potent, with supple cassis and black cherry fruit holding lighter streaks of leaf and stem. Focused and well-defined, it does not use new oak or hints of sugar to hide its varietal character. Give it time to breathe and it will delight. ——P.G.(12/1/2009)—— 90