Tastes thick and heavy and unintegrated now, with a sappy, syrupy mouthfeel. Yet there’s a fantastic wealth of black cherry, currant, licorice and exotic, feral spice and animal flavors that seems to be a signature of this Fort Ross area. Too bad the winery didn’t hold this wine back for a while longer so we could properly evaluate it, but it seems very fine and should develop in the bottle. ——S.H.(2/1/2009)—— 90