6/17/2013 - gripNsip wrote: 84 points

Tasted in 2001-2011 vertical: I can say what was one of my favorite wines early in my wine hobby has fallen out of favor with me. Perhaps it was other great wines in this line-up, but the imperfections of this wine really stuck out this time. The nose was really dark, showing almost port-ish dark fig, prune and old blackberry fruit. Rich palate initially, jammy blackberry fruit, good earthy terroir in the mid-palate but the high alcohol of this wine overtakes the finish, showing a lot of boozy heat which closes off the finish and wrecks any sense of balance. Sad. I'd be interested to have this wine alone some night as these sort of tastings really make obvious the good and bad qualities of wines, but today this wasn't doing well. My least favorite of the vertical, also my last bottle of nearly 4 cases of this wine I had purchased and consumed over the years.