An elaborately rich, flamboyant Syrah whose ultraripe blackberry and cherry flavors have a tangy taste of bacon. Plenty of new oak adds vanilla, buttered toast and butterscotch. Almost too much of a good thing. Drink now. ——S.H.(11/1/2011)—— 89

Lots of complex flavors in this bone-dry wine, and they range well beyond berry-cherry fruit into more interesting realms of leather, coffee, unsweetened cocoa, bacon, pepper spice and minerals. The wine shows a brisk acidity, and the tannins are intricate. Feels a bit austere and aloof now, withholding its best. Should offer more in 3-5 years, but not much beyond that before the fruit collapses.——S.H.(11/1/2010)—— 89