There's elegance and grace within its form. Velvety smooth satsuma plum and blackforest fruits, layers of spice. Well-integrated French and American oak, shoyu, dark chocolate, roasting meats, cedar, tobacco leaf and earth. Cascading, powdery tannins provide ample support and the long finish features ripe plum, roast meat and chocolate tones as it slowly fades away. It'll certainly cellar like a champion, but it is approachable and very enjoyable even now. JH
Smoky beef bouillon accents, brimming with umami, cloves, blue fruits and peat. Full-bodied, generously oaked and slick, considering the challenging hot year. The tannins are a bit smoky and not as refined as Command can offer, but a very good wine, bolshy and forceful and built for the cellar all the same. JS