Honeyed lemon zest on the nose but kind of limp in the mouth and a shortish finish without the zip I was hoping for.

Tasted blind. Dark cherry color, big dark plums and blackberry fruit in a silky mouthfeel along a still firm backbone, with some meat, earth and a good long, spicy finish. Multiple layers of complexity, really enjoyed this - very impressed to find out this was a sub $40 bottle. My #1/9 for the night. I'm guessing 3-4 years from now this is a 93+.

Tasted blind. Cherry red, lots of florals on the nose and nice dolcetto-like cherry fruit with just a tiny bit of olive, pretty primary though overall still. Finish is mostly acidity for now.

Tasted blind. A bit hot and oaky at first, but cooled down with some air and became a lot more enjoyable with secondary characteristics of earth and dirt coming in after about an hour. Guessed this to be much younger than it was before learning it was basically popped and poured - a 3 hour decant might make this much more special.

Tasted blind. Darryl, who brought it, thought this bottle was mildly corked, and although he's got a ton more experience than me, I still found it quite enjoyable. There was a bit of wooliness, admittedly, but also coming through was very clean cherry fruit and a nice smooth but present tannic backbone with some earth on the finish.

Tasted blind. Cherry and cinnamon nose with a vanilla overtone that is reinforced in a cherry vanilla mouth with some all spice and earth. Still some oak left that threw me off because all the other flavor profiles were mature except for the oak notes. Darryl, who brought this landslide Wine of the Night, noted that there's less oak in vintages both prior and subsequent to the 1998 and that I'd probably like those more, as I rated it a tick lower than the crowd.

Tasted blind. Seemed very young and primary with high acidity for the first 20 minutes, but then it settled down amazingly well with food and you could really catch on to the earthiness and meat deep in it a lot more - and more so than its peers in a 9 bottle tasting. Was happy to see my instincts were right in that this was just too young but still a very well-made wine.

Tasted blind. I found this too be way too young and hot to enjoy, although the tar notes were kind of interesting. The finish was a bit vegetal as well, so I didn't rate this highly. Perhaps it just needs more time.

Tasted blind, and thought it young and relatively simple. Totally shocked to find out this was the wine I brought, as it drank 15 years younger than expected. Nose had been exquisite - tobacco pouch and cedar box on open, but that seemed muted at the tasting. Still a great deal of residual oak against a relatively primary mid-palate. Secondary notes of strawberry and earth do come through and lots of acidity on finish. Seriously could be held another 5-7 years easily.

Tasted blind. This was popped and poured due to bringer's late arrival, and it didn't seem to open for business until most of it was gone. Cherry and a bit of plum. Lots of lead pencil, too, and a bit of smoothness prompted people to guess Super Tuscan, which speaks to both its elegance and raciness. My guess is this is gorgeous in a few more years.