A 500-case blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, the virile, muscular, tannic 2004 reveals medium body along with a Medoc-like austerity, deep fruit, decent acidity, and a spicy finish. Drink it over the next decade.

A beautiful, velvet-textured wine, with its dense fruit, enticing and attractive. But the wine, from the 5-acre parcel owned by actor Gerard Depardieu, is balanced, with a good layer of dry tannins, fresh acidity and subtle hints of the new wood used in the aging.——R.V.(6/1/2008)—— 91