Medium-deep, halfway between ruby and garnet color. On the nose it's simultaneously opulent and elegant, showy but refined—like a rococo old opera house in which over-the-top flourishes and intricate filigree have taken on a dignified character by virtue of age. There's still a little bit of dark, spicy blackberry fruit, and some rich, tasty pie-crust primary oak character, but those notes are overmatched by successive waves of secondary and tertiary characteristics: smoke, cedar, tree bark, dill, olives, barbecue, dried rose petals, black licorice, dark chocolate, old barrels, old books, old leather, coffee grounds, mushrooms, and soy sauce.
On the palate, you sense the high alcohol right away, with an immediate warming heat, but it actually doesn't present as remarkably heavy—more of a medium-heavy weight. The tannins are of medium strength, but they have really melted into an elegant, fine-grained texture, somewhere between silk and satin. The flavor profile is a little bit less complex than on the nose, and the oak is a bit more directly obvious, but there is still a nice balance between deep fruit and spicy/earthy/meaty/herbal flavors. And the intensity it prodigious.
Definitely a more dignified and less rumbustious wine than when I last drank a bottle, which still retains its power and scale. Lots of fun to drink, and wish I had more to see where it will go next.
