This wine’s appearance resembles a black hole, dark and brooding. It smells of mulled wine, baking spice and peak-of-summer berries. Nicely concentrated on the full-bodied palate, there’s enough juiciness and lushness of ripe fruit to classify this wine as hedonistic. The tannins are soft and cuddly, so the supporting acidity works doubly hard to keep the wine in line. The medium finish shows this wine has a bit of time left to develop well in bottle. Drink now through 2017.

— Published (6/11/2015)