Always an intricately built wine, exotic and ripe. Right now, it’s a contradiction. So silky in the mouth, it could almost be a Pinot Noir, except it has Cab’s tannins, and the blackberry and cherry fruit has a powerful intrusion of cassis. Those tannins are notable. They intrude at every step of the way, suggesting time in the cellar. Six years seems barely adequate, ten years more likely.——S.H.(11/1/2011)—— 93

A beautifully rich, complex mountain wine that wants some time in the cellar. Dry and complex in tannin structure, it shows flamboyant blackberry, cherry, raspberry, chocolate, roasted almond and brown sugar flavors, as delicious as a succulent granola candy bar. Already throwing some sediment, it’s fine now and should develop at least through 2015.——S.H.(11/1/2010)—— 93