Decadent on the nose, this wine is replete with baking and savory spices. Heady layers of tobacco and cigar box begin to levitate with time in the glass. This is a hulking wine, with a noticeable hit of alcohol, saved by relaxed acidity and clenching tannins that help rein it in. It is almost brutish in structure, despite the wine’s hearty fruit character. It seems stuck in its ways and is unlikely to change much, so drink now–2019.

— Published (8/16/2018)