Very ripe, sweet and oaky, tasting almost like a dessert wine, or at least a melted cherry and plum pastry. Delicious in an obvious way, but lacks complexity, and doesn’t seem like an ager. Drink up. ——S.H.(12/1/2011)—— 86

A big, young Pinot Noir that shows brilliant stuffing and complexity, but it’s rather heavy and tannic now, and not a wine to open before, say, 2011 at the very least. In its youth it displays rich, jammy flavors of red cherries, raspberries, Dr. Pepper cola, beef jerky and smoky sandalwood, and is very dry. Should evolve slowly through 2015 or beyond.——S.H.(3/1/2010)—— 92