Description and Reviews:
Dark, maturing, still very densely coloured on inspection though. The nose starts off in a very obvious fashion, full of sweet fig and cedar, showing plenty of spice and with a little time also a fair whack of spirit. But with time it does all channel down into something a little more defined, mainly a cedary wood-spice with chalky, vanilla tinged, edge, but also a painty-chemically nuance too. It suggests a dry structure, perhaps with a woody streak, but although there are elements of this on the palate much more evident - at first at least - is the rather fat and substantial entry, with a slightly plump and soupy feel. This puppy fat quickly falls away though, to reveal a wealth of spice and power behind, formed by a layer of tannin and peppery, biting alcohol which goes some way to cut through the sweet, full, figgy fruit - although it never really manages it as I would have hoped it would. With more time it does indeed build in substance, showing a broad and sweet character, which then rolls up in full finish, slowly fading out with a grippy, spicy, peppery, biting and rather hot and spirity length. This all seems a little top heavy, hot and fierce at the moment. As is often the case there are appealing elements, although for me they don't dominate at present. More time in the cellar may soften some of the coarser aspects of this wine's character. From a 1991 vintage twenty years on tasting. 15/20 (July 2011) WineDoctor.com
