My personal view of extended barrel age wines is that they take more time to be ready to drink than regular aged wines. This one is from what might be a slightly lighter vintage, but held true. It is a blend of 58% Syrah, 28% Mourvedre, 11% Grenache, and 3% Viognier. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is nice with black raspberries, plums, black cherries, spice, roasted meats, and slight black olive. Great texture. On the palate, this is tight but with air has black raspberries, black cherries with underlying roasted meat and herbs. A bit of black pepper comes out with air. Long finish. This is serious but also delicious. It should still improve a bit but is wonderful now. Drink over the next twenty years. Great on its own, this worked very well with a vegetarian chili.
