Deep, well-defined and wonderfully constant, ripe currant fruit makes this one our choice of the Duckhorn bunch, and, while a rich and heady working with lots of meat on its bones, it is also a neatly composed wine whose integral tannins are buffered by extract to spare. It is, in fact, sufficiently supple and fruity as to tempt drinking now, but we see it getting better with age and urge four or five years of cellaring.

Deep, saturated ruby.Blackberry, sassafras and licorice on the nose.Deep, sweet and lush but with a juicy character and good floral lift to the black fruit and licorice flavors.Finishes with firm-edged tannins whose youthful toughness argues for a few years of cellaring.

Rating for United States-California: 92 (slightly better than average year)<br/><br/>Drinkability: unpredictable<br/>