2004 Shiraz Viognier The Relic

More exotic and flamboyant than the Shiraz, but equally profound is the 2004 Shiraz/Viognier The Relic (93% and 7% respectively, cropped at .5 tons of fruit per acre, and aged 20 months in old French oak). An inky/purple-colored, powerful, full-bodied, rich red, it possesses a huge, sweet nose of blue and black fruits, flowers, and subtle oak, a blockbuster mid-section, and an amazingly long finish. More approachable than the 2003 Shiraz, it can be drunk now or cellared for 15 or more years. Oct 2006, www.robertparker.com