Tasted over two nights.

First night, straight out of the bottle. Clean, ruby red/garnet colour. Fat, thick, slow legs. Evolving nose with aromas of cherries, espresso, mushrooms, sweet red fruits (sliced plums and raspberries), briar, mocha, glycerin, and balsamic. Medium-full bodied, showing a lot of restraint and mouth-searing tannins. Behind the wall of tannin there are hints of cherries, mushrooms, thyme, and cinnamon. Dry, tannic finish, about 30-40s. 86 points right now, mostly for the nose. (04/28/2004)

Second night. Decanted two hours the previous night, poured back into bottle and vacu-winned. Stored overnight in my cellar. Seemed to darken with air, becoming almost opqaue with purple tinges to the dark ruby/garnet colour. Aromas of Asian 5-spice, sweet red fruits (plums, cherries), glycerin, and vanilla. Medium-full bodied with sweet red fruits, white pepper, earth, and bannana. Moderate finish, about 30s, with allspice notes. This will be better in a few years, but never be a 90-point wine. 88 points (04/29/2004).