Bruno Besa | Deep ruby to garnet. Mature black-cherry and prune nose, with smoke, raw meat, and some minerals and road tar. Full body, with a slightly overripe black-cherry palate. Fairly long and clean on the finish. | 92

Andrew Jefford | Deep, clear garnet-red. Some mint and pine mingled into the red fruits here; tea leaf, too, behind. Not wholly classical, but attractive, with plenty of aromatic interest. The palate is impressively concentrated, with high-resolution acidity and tannin alike; a serious contender, and there is certainly aging potential here. All that holds me back from a top score is a slight roughness or abruptness of style, but this may well be something that time resolves. Those pine notes may disconcert also. | 88

Michael Palij | This wine sports a delicious nose of balsamic fruit sotto aceto [pickled], chocolate, coffee, black cherry, mineral, and orange peel. On the palate, the enormous weight of ripe black fruit, oak aromas, and cooked fruit are difficult to resist. The wine has superb length, poise, and a slightly obvious black-fruit note. | 91