This is extremely ripe yet manages to remain fresh with its well-layered nose of wood, mocha, black raspberry liqueur, Asian-style tea and wide range of spice elements. There is a sleek, indeed even satiny mouth feel to the imposingly concentrated big-bodied flavors that are opulent yet focused, all wrapped in a strikingly long, balanced and complex finale. Impressive and worth checking out.

There is enough wood to notice framing the highly spiced nose of plum, floral and Asian-style tea nuances. The very supple barely medium weight flavors possess good complexity but not the mid-palate concentration it needs to be at the next level. In sum, this is certainly pretty and stylish enough but it's pretty light for a grand cru.

A distinctly menthol-infused nose speaks of red and black pinot fruit, spice and floral aromas, all of which are trimmed in noticeable wood. There is impressive richness and volume to the mouth coating flavors that possess an abundance of dry extract that also serves to buffer the firm, balanced and beautifully persistent finish.

An overtly and attractively spiced nose of rose petal, red currant, plum and sandalwood aromas leads to big-bodied flavors that possess excellent richness and plenty of mouth coating dry extract. Interestingly though, despite all of the mid-palate material the finale is quite linear with a firm, cool and impressively long finish.

A hint of herbal tea can be discerned on the otherwise super fresh, ripe and moderately spiced red and dark berry fruit aromas. There is very good richness to the tension-filled middle weight flavors where the supporting tannins possess good phenolic maturity, which is a good thing because there is quite a contrast between the accessible mid-palate and very firm finish. In sum this is presently a long way from being the seductive wine it often is but I like the balance and persistence and thus moderate patience will be required.