Youthful purple. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes ripe dark berries, candied flowers, incense and exotic spices, along with a smoky mineral overtone. Pliant, seamless and intensely spicy on the palate, offering deeply concentrated, mineral-laced blackberry, bitter cherry, vanilla and floral pastille flavors that firm up slowly as the wine opens up. Concentrated yet energetic, even lithe, delivering strong finishing thrust and dusty, well-knit tannins that come in late. (JR)