NVWE Notes: Paul Lato’s renderings from this notoriously powerful vineyard are always elegant, yet the wines love cellar-time regardless. The 2017 offers somewhat muscular aromas of dark red cherry, sweet red plum, cranberry jelly, cherry pit, dry red rose, toffee, sandalwood, star anise, cardamom, laurel and graphite. It is both heavy-bodied and structured on the palate, where smoked herb, bouillon, peppercorn and dried beef suggestions underpin a focused layering of dark boysenberry, black raspberry, dark cherry galette, dry Mr. Lincoln rose and suggestions of rosemary and bay leaf. The finish is very long, but tight, piquant and full of grip beneath its veneer of dark red fruits. That fruit, with airing, becomes dominated by a rich core of Italian Maraschino cherry. Expect five years of growth, at minimum for this beauty.