91 Points | International Wine Cellar , May/June 2012

Good deep ruby.  Superripe aromas of cassis, licorice and dark chocolate, plus a hint of tobacco leaf.  Lush, sweet and showy, in a full, rather soft style, offering flavors of dark fruits, graphite and crushed rock.  Winemaker Philippe Melka describes this rocky site as the Chateauneuf du Pape of the Napa Valley, noting that these vines are picked two or three weeks earlier than the vineyard next to the winery, barely two miles farther south, on the west side of Highway 29 between St. Helena and Calistoga.

92 Points | Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate