Aromatics of ripe plum, spice, currant and black cherry give this a complex scent and it's supple and elegant on the palate, with firm yet polished tannins that let the fruit flavors glide through yet remind you that a few years in the cellar are appropriate. Drink now through 2012. 8,000 cases made. -JL

This wonderfully rich young wine is enormously powerful in blackberry preserves, creme brulee, mocha and cassis flavors. There’s lots of new oak, but it’s well integrated, and the tannins are softly gentle, yet ripe and complex. Almost feminine in its opulence, the wine is beautiful now, but has the balance to hold and even improve for many years. Drink now–2020. ——S.H.(12/15/2006)—— 94