65% Shiraz, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot
Opaque purple, medium plus nose green pepper, blackberry, herbs and blueberry. Full body, medium-to-medium plus intensity, heavy, with medium acidity. More black and blue fruit with some greenness and smoky oak. I haven’t had a Marquis wine in some time and this reminds me why. Concentration, but heavy with no real layering, just a frontal assault.

Decanted for about 1 1/2 hour before pouring. Very dark opaque crimson in color, the wine displays a nose of sweet blueberries, blackberries, cocoa powder, allspice, and a touch of eucalyptus. Very soft, broad, and smooth on the weighty palate, with significant sweet fruit and unfortunately also very noticeable alcohol heat and not enough acidity to bolster the heavy fruit. Ripe tannins are mostly contained by the wealth of fruit, but there is a slight tannic grip toward the finish. Overall this is a decent wine, but it lacks complexity and depth, and turns rather ponderous due to its weight and low acidity. 87 points.

Had this tonight alongside the '05 Mollydooker "Maitre D'." TLF is a very unimpressive wine -- hot, sweet, coarse, simple and quite oaky. Not undrinkable but certainly not worth the $17-25 it seems to be going for. I'd buy a case or two if it were $6-8/bottle, but 94 Parker points? Gimme a break. Any of us could come up with hundreds if not thousands of wines RMP has scored significantly lower that by any measure are far better wines. If I had to assign a score, I'd say somewhere in the 83-85 range. For what it's worth the "Maitre D'" was less impressive by a few points -- all of the above descriptors apply but the oak is even more pronounced and coarse. I paid $17/bottle for each of these and don't think they're remotely worth it.

Purple, medium plus nose of cassis, mint/eucalyptus, blackberry and oak-cinnamon, nutmeg. Full body, medium plus intensity and medium acidity. Blackberry, cassis, spice and smoke, Huge, ripe and over the top with alcohol sticking out. 86pts.