Much less successful than other top vintages have been, Rol Valentin’s 2006 reveals a sinewy, muscular style displaying a dark ruby/purple color, some attractive black cherry, licorice, and roasted herbs on the attack, but a narrowing in the mouth as well as an angular, disjointed finish. There is good depth, weight, and purity, but it exhibits the major defect found in some 2006s ... an excess of tannin vis a vis the concentration. Drink it over the next decade.

Much less successful than other top vintages have been, Rol Valentin’s 2006 reveals a sinewy, muscular style displaying a dark ruby/purple color, some attractive black cherry, licorice, and roasted herbs on the attack, but a narrowing in the mouth as well as an angular, disjointed finish. There is good depth, weight, and purity, but it exhibits the major defect found in some 2006s ... an excess of tannin vis a vis the concentration. Drink it over the next decade.