Review by Stephen Tanzer
Rating: (96)
Saturated ruby. Knockout nose combines blueberry pastille, black raspberry, minerals, violet, espresso and sexy oak. Hugely complex, superripe and dry, with flavors of dark berries, bitter chocolate, mocha, smoke and minerals that reach every nook and cranny of the palate. This is just at the limit of surmaturite (the alcohol here is 14.7%, high for this site but not at all excessive by today’s North Coast cabernet standards), but does not cross over the line. Finishes with broad, spreading tannins that reach the front teeth and come across as even lusher than those of the 2002 merlot.
