2013 Booker Vineyard

Bright purple. Intense, highly perfumed cherry liqueur and blueberry aromas are complicated by suggestions of smoky minerals, spicecake and candied licorice. Sappy, appealingly sweet dark fruit and floral pastille flavors show impressive energy and pick up a hint of cola. The mineral element comes back with air and adds a sense of coolness to the wine's powerful fruit. Rich yet vibrant and precise, displaying superb balance and a gently tannic finish that leaves notes of sappy dark berries and allspice behind.

Glass-staining purple. High-pitched cherry, cassis and licorice scents pick up spice and mineral qualities with air. Suave, densely packed red fruit preserve and violet pastille flavors are braced by juicy acidity. Distinctly lively given its weight. Dusty, fine-grained tannins come in late and shape the long, focused, floral finish.

Leading off the wines tasted from bottle, the 2013 Booker Vineyard is one of the prettier, more elegant and pure examples of this cuvee I can recall. A blend of 67% Syrah and the rest Mourvedre, fermented with 30% whole cluster, this total thrill ride offers sensational notes of creme de cassis, black raspberries, ground herbs and crushed flowers to go with a full-bodied, ultra-pure, silky and seamless style on the palate. This tannin quality is off the charts, but it needs short term cellaring to really show at its best. Aug 2016, www.robertparker.com