Decanted 2 hours. Very integrated, feminine nose, lightly creamy, giving off a whipped sweet egg-white character, a drop of almond extract, smoke, and mature wild red berries. Plenty of acidity still present on the palate (the characteristic Syrah citiric/lime juice type of acid), opening up to a leathery mouthfeel, increasingly more floral notes tied to the palate, with quietly mature red cherry and berry. 92+/93

Decanted 2 hours. Comparatively masculine to the preceding 1997 Tardieu-Laurent Hermitage, this is darker and meatier with roasted game, charcoal, and incense notes dominating the nose, then blacker red fruits, especially black cherry. Didn't get much of the expected black pepper, but instead more of woodspice. Tight, high-acid palate, but the acid is well accounted for by the tarry, meaty black fruits on the palate, showing a bit of extraction, and opening into a broader profile than the Hermitage. Would have benefited from a longer decant. 93+

Decanted 2.5 hours. Extremely mineral, schist/slate not quite moving into full-blown graphite, youthfully floral (very purple potpourri-like), rich topsoil tones add a textured aspect to the darker plum and berries. On the palate this has a nice blend of subtle themes that collectively make it very enjoyable: the textured feel continues with ground earth/coffee grounds, dark currant and ripe-but-unsweet plum pick up forest floor/tobacco/tea leaf herbal qualities on midpalate, but the finish loses some fruit concentration in late palate. Tannins have relaxed and are now more complementary than anything. Overall still really firm; this will benefit from a couple more years cellaring. 94+

Decanted 2.5 hours. Redder and riper than the 2004 Clos Figueres. Also throws a lot of schist/slate, but this presents with more graphite and even underlying asphalt notes. Fruit on the nose is very direct blueberry and blackberry, extremely ripe but not over-extracted, with a pretty background of slightly sweet vanilla. The palate somehow balances a giant amount of fruit with precise concentration carrying across the palate. The fruit is very red, starting with cherry and currant, then adding strawberry and cranberry on midpalate. It's very rare to get such ripe, concentrated fruit going all the way through the finish like this. Very impressive.

Decanted 4 hours. This was like a sleeping giant, very reticent on the nose for quite a while before finally starting to open up in the glass. There's a fresh, sweet pistachio-nuttiness to the nose, wild plum, fresh tobacco, rawhide, and rustic acidity. A little underwhelming on the palate due to only average fruit concentration, but it still has a nice rustic feel, a little tarry black licorice and plum flavors, and some good stony mineral edging the finish. Still feels like there's power in reserve and I'd recommend a 12-hour decant to really get it going.

Decanted 4 hours. This has really integrated in 2.5 years, as you'd expect, but I sense this is another sleeping giant like the 2004 Mocali Riserva drank right before. Darker fruits, more tar and richness, and concentrated cherry on the nose. Plenty of woodspice and black licorice come out gradually in the glass. Relative to its previous state in 2009, the palate is a bit closed at the moment. Still, the classic Sangiovese plum here is more ripe than the Mocali, but it doesn't quite have the layered echo of concentration that it had in 2009. But while that flamboyance has toned down (at least for now), the oakiness and alcohol that were on the palate back then have almost fully integrated, and the midpalate and finish are much more classic and refined, rolling along with clay/mineral-laced leafy tobacco and leather. 94+/95

Decanted 2 hours. This wine is a powerhouse, but it sneaks up on you because it does it in layers. The nose is simultaneously red and black fruits, like a mixture of raspberries and blackberries ranging from just ripe to exceedingly ripe, with smoke, mint, and milk chocolate edging it all. Palate again presents in layers, first a wave of jammy berry juice, then concentrated kirsch, then darker licorice and chocolate, with nougaty oak notions present on the finish. It also gives the impression of green mint or tea leaf-tannins underneath, but there's so much fruit concentration that these only barely come into play.

Decanted 2 hours. This was given a big test going against the formidable 2004 De Lisio Krystina, and while it wasn't up to that level, it did present beautifully. It gives off the character of a hotter vintage, much blacker, more tarry berry fruit on the nose, like sticky blackberry compote and spicy black licorice, also with some redder cassis and vanilla intermixed. The palate is not quite as aggressive as the nose, and in fact seems quite mature in its integration. Along with highly concentrated dark blueberry/plum/purple fruit, it has an unexpected amount of secondary flavors, especially pepper and baking spices, meaty rawhide, and quieter mint and underbrush.