Allen Meadows - Score: 93-95 (2012 Jan.)

A deeply pitched and brooding nose of spice, plum, cassis and plenty of pungent earth marries into very rich, intense and muscular flavors that possess a velvety mouth that culminates in a precise and driving finish that delivers spectacular length. This possesses that rare quality of having a robust and powerful mid-palate yet the overall impression is a wine of refinement. In a word, brilliant.