SF | Stolid, robust, and, in short, holding its color well after four decades. The nose impresses equally; leather and mushroom, balsam and a lick of white (not dark) chocolate. Vanillin, maybe; Oloroso comes to mind, strangely. Impressive, ethereal lift; so much going on, so many profound flavors (walnut, chocolate, and the rest of them), yet still an unerring ascent to the plateau of descriptors which are both poetic and gentle; a wonderful weave of declaimed contradiction. 95
AJ | Dark-hued but light walnut in color, with russet glints. Warm and sweet, unburdening in the glass: great coils of toffee and tar, menthol and lodge dust, bay leaf and lavender, dried orange and lemon peel. Compelling aromas when first poured, though they ease back somewhat in the glass. Very sweet on the palate, and a little bit of a pile-driver in this sense: you get a huge sugar dump, and all the balancing work is done by extract and the wrinkles that time has worked into the wine, rather than by an alchemy of fruit. But perhaps I'm carping a bit: this is still an arresting mouthful. 2024–28. 90
RM | Good, mid-deep, brick-red to tawny hue; lovely, rich, heady, lifted aromas, and similarly rich yet suave, spicy flavors; big and mouth-filling, with the firm tannins that characterized the 1983 vintage still evident in this wine (but that may be just a coincidence.) Rich and caramelized on the finish, showing freshness and finesse. 92