Impeccable fruit shines like a beacon. Opens with rich black-cherry and chocolate aromas, with beautifully poised earth and tobacco notes. In the mouth, the fruit speaks in sweet black-cherry and currant tones, and again, the tobacco accents pop up. Big, but refined; the mouthfeel is compelling; the full, even tannins portend a fine, long future.——W.E.(11/1/2000)—— 94