91(+?)? Points | International Wine Cellar , May/June 2007

($179) Good full ruby. Roasted black raspberry, blackberry, spicecake, licorice, minerals and nutty oak on the nose. Denser than the 2005 and a step up in intensity but nicely light on its feet. There's lovely sweetness to the black fruit and licorice flavors. Finishes with big but sweet tannins and a lingering minerality. This makes the 2005 seem a bit dry by comparison. Bottled in July of 2006, for the first time without being fined. (I continue to find the '03 too herbal, lean and dry to recommend. The '02 in March was less herbal and minty than my sample two years ago but still high-toned, truffley and a bit vegetal, with a note of black olive and a rather chunky texture. This rather backward wine needs time but I find it disappointing in the context of the vintage, rating 87+?. The wild, distinctly Old World 2001, on the other hand, was wonderfully dense, sweet and lush without coming across as heavy, showing complex notes of cassis, graphite, spicecake, leather and game; lovely inner-mouth perfume; and an explosive finish featuring fine-grained, suave tannins that reach the front teeth. This very sexy and showy wine, rated 91 in Issue 118, merited 92 in March.)

92-94 Points | Wine Spectator