A touch horsey at first, but with time it settles on saddle leather and earthy fruit. The palate is chunky and beefy, with some funk, chocolate and herbal black fruit. Not super spunky and lively, but dense as a brick and interesting. Drink now through 2014. ——M.S.(6/1/2010)—— 90

Bring on the barrels (and a chisel to cut through the tannins). Or just put it away in your cellar for a decade and let the fierce tannins and intensely toasted oak characteristics fade away. Early attackers will get hit with a wall of bitter chocolate, shoe polish and hickory blackness while digging into layers of tannin surrounding dark fruit, graphite and licorice. Better after 2010.——M.S.(11/15/2008)—— 90