90 pts Wine Spectator 6/15/06
Bright, bordering on bracing, with juicy plum and spice aromas and flavors, not a big wine but immensely satisfying for its generous fruit, hinting at apricot as the finish lingers against superfine tannins. Drink now through 2012. 750 cases made. 90 pts Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar Jul/Aug 2006
Full violet color. Powerful, assertive aromas of blackberry, boysenberry, bitter chocolate, rose oil, cracked pepper, smoked meat, espresso and black cardamom; this is very Northern Rhone in style. Quite firmly built, with dry, mineral-tinged cherry and blackcurrant flavors accented by tobacco, mocha and candied violet. Fine-grained tannins frame the sweet dark fruit flavors on the finish.
