80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc

Wine Advocate: 97, Neal Martin: 96, James Suckling: 93

Wine Advocate: Stephan von Neipperg-s tiny jewel of a vineyard 12 acres produces the ultimate garage wine from 50-year old vines. A candidate for the wine of the vintage, this blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc is a big, concentrated effort of extraordinary intensity and richness. A sensational bouquet of sweet blueberry, black raspberry, and black currant fruit interwoven with scents of charcoal, incense, graphite, and pain grille is followed by an extraordinarily intense, full-bodied, amazingly concentrated wine displaying elevated tannins in the finish. It is another uncompromising effort meant for long-term cellaring.