［産地］カルフォルニア ナパ・ヴァレー
［タンザー評価］91+点
Good full ruby. Roasted black raspberry, blackberry, spicecake,
licorice, minerals and nutty oak on the nose. Denser than the
2005 and a step up in intensity but nicely light on its feet.
There's lovely sweetness to the black fruit and licorice flavors.
Finishes with big but sweet tannins and a lingering minerality.
This makes the 2005 seem a bit dry by comparison. Bottled in July
of 2006, for the first time without being fined. (I continue to
find the '03 too herbal, lean and dry to recommend. The '02 in
March was less herbal and minty than my sample two years ago but
still high-toned, truffley and a bit vegetal, with a note of
black olive and a rather chunky texture. This rather backward
wine needs time but I find it disappointing in the context of
the vintage, rating 87+?. The wild, distinctly Old World 2001,
on the other hand, was wonderfully dense, sweet and lush without
coming across as heavy, showing complex notes of cassis, graphite,
spicecake, leather and game; lovely inner-mouth perfume; and an
explosive finish featuring fine-grained, suave tannins that reach
the front teeth. This very sexy and showy wine, rated 91 in
Issue 118, merited 92 in March.) 91(+?)? points
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, May/Jun 07
