This wine is a shapeshifter, a volatile personality living up to its name. Tender and ingratiating up front, it turns bleak and more insular at the back end.
Aromas of dark berries and cherry with a fig foundation, vanilla hints, and a stony, gravel-like quality mingle with the scent of moist wood.
Full bodied and soft but deep and spooky when you first take it in, the fruit power drops at midpalate and a mineral seam laced with sour cherry shows at the end of the midpalate. It turns firm and unyielding with good length on the finish with fine-grained but sneaky powerful tannins.
Enigmatic and searching, the desolation on the finish perhaps a sardonic commentary on its earlier self, Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game is a match.
Notes: A blend of Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, and several other grapes. 70% aged in used oak for 12 months.
Score: 89
Price: $17
Alc: 14%
Exploring the Philosophy of Food and Wine 