The 2006 Shiraz was sourced from a single parcel of 98 year old vines yielding a minuscule 0.5 tons of fruit per acre. It was aged for 36 months in seasoned French oak. A glass-coating opaque purple color, it offers up a superb, room-filling bouquet of cigar box, baking spices, smoked meat, lavender, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. On the palate this harmonious, velvety-textured effort is voluptuous, full-flavored, succulent, and exceptionally long. It has enough structure to evolve for 4-6 years but will be hard to resist early on. Its prime drinking window will extend from 2014 to 2026. -Jay S Miller