"Dark red-ruby. More precise on the nose than the Pedestal Merlot, offering aromas of black cherry, menthol and bitter chocolate. Then wonderfully silky and dense in the mouth, combining superb concentration and a subtle sweetness to its flavors of black raspberry, licorice, bitter chocolate and sexy oak. Fully ripe but also nicely delineated. Finishes very long and classically dry, with serious but smooth tongue-saturating tannins and resounding fruit. Gilles Nicault told me that winemaker Philippe Melka rotates the barrels during the vinification, instead of punching down or pumping over. (15.1% alcohol; the Cabernet Sauvignon from Red Mountain was fermented in 400-liter barrels made by Baron, 22% new; the blend was then aged in 75% new oak for 22 months; 3.85 pH) - Stephen Tanzer"
- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (December 2019), 93 pts