Feels good on the entry, with promising blackberry-cherry flavors and a bite of tannins, but quickly turns too soft and candy sweet. A decent, simple wine for drinking now.——S.H.(9/1/2010)—— 84

Some good pepper and currant flavors in this bone-dry wine, but there’s an old-fashioned hardness to the tannins that makes it pretty undrinkable now. Doesn’t seem likely to age out.——S.H.(7/1/2008)—— 83

Starts promising, with delicate scents of herbs, cherries, menthol and a hint of citrus peel, but quickly accelerates into jammy, cooked raspberries and lashings of vanilla that turn inexplicably tart and aggressive on the finish. Perplexing.——W.E.(9/1/2005)—— 84

Look at that price! This is a dark wine, exciting to smell. The word “fiery” comes to mind. Something warm about it: baked cherry tart, blackberry pie fresh from the oven. In the mouth, huge, ripe and flattering. Floods the palate with sweet fruity, berry flavors, but bone dry. Tannins are a work of art, soft and intricate. Worth every penny, and one of the best Sierra wines in memory. The high alcohol level is not apparent.——S.H.(6/1/2003)—— 93

This medium-weight wine is zippy, lively and has nice structure. Tart cranberry, fig and briary-butterscotch aromas don’t adequately prepare you for the lush blackberry, caramel and chocolate flavors. The creamy, though slightly tannic (one reviewer called it “Rhonish”) finish fades slowly, with a metallic-mineral note on the back palate.——W.E.(10/1/2001)—— 89