Saturated medium ruby. Cool perfume of blackberry, licorice, spices and black pepper. Suave and fine-grained but still quite tight, showing little in the way of easy sweetness but also avoiding the greenness that plagues some 2008s. Although youthfully imploded, savory and dry, this powerfully tannic, mineral-driven wine spreads out on the back end to coat the palate. -- Stephen Tanzer