September 12, 2007 - Decanted and poured immediately. Lots of sediment left in bottle, so decanting is a must. "Tears" on the glass. Beautiful dark purple color. Vibrant nose with violets, cassis, strawberries, earth and a little smoke. Medium bodied, pleasantly tannic. Dark fruit, black pepper, minerals on the palate. Medium finish. This has some real bite and character and went well with the grilled flank steak we had tonight. It didn't develop a lot during the meal, which would indicate it is not going to improve, but has enough tannin to give it some more life. But why wait? Excellent value. Wish I had more!
October 13, 2006 - At first I thought something was wrong with this. Color of grape jelly, nose was funky, and the palate was minerally. After 45 minutes it opened up and was full of spice and tannins. I really enjoyed this. Had with ribeye. Get more at Surdyks.
June 25, 2004 - Red Carpet: Opaque purple; med-big nose; ollalaberry, oozing blkberry pie; good int. nose; grt lively ripe berry a’s; med to big bodied; 2nd taste--a little less big and more earthy.