While Tasting Director Joe Czerwinski was a big fan of this wine, finding it smoky, tannic and cellarworthy, our other tasters found it less appealing, calling it vegetal in one instance and muted in another. Partisans will find a dense, creamy-textured wine with flavors of chocolate and blackberries. ——W.E.(9/1/2005)—— 86

A strange wine. It smells slightly unripe, with green pepper and oak aromas, then turns unexpectedly sweet in the mouth. Finishes with tough tannins. ——S.H.(6/1/2005)—— 84

A dark, full-bodied and very extracted wine with powerful fruit flavors. The currant, blackberry, plum and cherry flavors have a peppery note, especially in the aroma, and the texture is dry and lush. This young wine has lots of baby fat, but is charming now for its opulence.——S.H.(3/1/2004)—— 90