88 Points | International Wine Cellar , July/August 2008

($18; 90% cannonau, 5% bovale and 5% malvasia nera) Deep ruby with inky highlights. Full, rich and spicy on the nose, with scents of ripe raspberry, tobacco and balsamic mint. Nicely delineated and sweet, with a strong raspberry quality dominating the palate. Finishes quite smooth, with more tobacco and balsamic notes. One of the better Costera bottlings I remember at a similar age of development, with less vegetility and more ripe fruit than some past efforts. A very good example of what grenache, the grape that the Sardinians call cannonau, can do on the island, but this finer, more austere rendition of the grape may disappoint those who prefer the luscious, jammy style of some Australian or southern Rhone behemoths.