Allen Meadows - Score: 95-97 (2007 April)

A positively kaleidoscopic and utterly knockout nose featuring exuberant Vosne-style spicy black fruit and a panoply of underlying nuances including anise, clove, minerals, underbrush, warm earth and smoke plus a hint of menthol introduce reserved, even cool medium full flavors that are like silk on the palate though the hugely long finish tightens up in a real rush. This is really quite fine and less youthfully austere than it usually is. A stunner with that wonderful character of inner mouth perfume that the great wines always have and built for the long haul. Note: like the Reignots, this too has benefited from the additional time in barrel and my original score was a bit too conservative.