PASO ROBLES | CALIFORNIA | $80
Cedar and violets on the nose yielding to concentrated blackberry and black currant fruit with notes of tobacco, chalk and tar. Forward fruit with plenty of savory flavors for balance. A complex and powerful wine (15.9% alcohol!) with massive flavor and character. Inky opaque to the eye, silky smooth on the palate and rewardingly lingering at the finish. He’s a grand character, robust in size and manner, nearly large enough to possess gravitational force, and impeccably tailored, too — he fills a room, and yet in dialogue, he causes others to feel they are the center of it all. 40% Grenache, 40% Mourvèdre, 20% Syrah. An excellent wine. (Reviewed 1/20/14)