95(+?) Points | International Wine Cellar , November/December 2012

(100% cabernet sauvignon):  Saturated ruby.  Compelling spicy high tones to the sexy aromas of blackberry, blueberry, licorice, Belgian chocolate and truffle; at once fully ripe and somehow cool.  Silky and juicy on entry, then explodes in the middle palate to show classy, sharply delineated dark fruit and chocolate flavors of uncanny purity.  This is pure liquid pleasure and somehow remains light on its feet.  Finishes with noble tannins and outstanding palate-staining persistence.  (The 2008 version, tasted alongside this vintage, did not have quite the fruit intensity of the extraordinary 2009 but this very impressive, firmly structured wine is in a very tight, closed stage at present.  On my latest tasting, I rated it 94+?.)