55% Cabernet Sauvignon; 40% Merlot; 5% Cabernet Franc. Even with its comparatively high percentage of Merlot, this bottling comes up thin, dry and phenolic. Its brief flashes of cherries give way to cedar and dried-vegetation, and its bitter, austere finish is singularly lacking in fruit.

Red-ruby. Currant, licorice, smoky oak and a whiff of meat on the nose. At once smooth and vinous, with a slightly leafy character to the currant, mineral and graphite flavors. Nicely lush wine with well-buffered, building tannins and good length.