"The wine possesses a purple-black hue in the glass that is almost completely opaque at its core. The aromatic profile is densely layered with notes of smoked meat, lavender oil, cedar bark, worn leather, spearmint, and blueberries. The mouth feel displays a steady contrast of weight and levity, with powerful notes of clove oil, macerated black fruit, allspice, cocoa nib, lilac and crushed rock. Due to the higher skin-to-juice ratio this vintage, the flavors are still tightly packed together and the tannic structure takes some time to unfold. With an hour in a decanter, this wine starts to show its true colors and those that are patient, will be richly rewarded." -Thomas Rivers Brown, winemaker