Big wines come with big price tags attached; then again, so do limited availability wines. This atypical red blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot and 14% Syrah had only 150 case produced. This wine’s big and muscular, just what you’d expect from a wine containing Cabernet and Syrah, but the Merlot adds its own muscle to the mix too. The nose and palate are quite complex adding layers of aromas and flavours. Blackberry and smoky notes start off the smells with smoked meat and violets on the second sniffer-pass. Inhale again and find sweet black fruit and barrel notes, both sweet and woodsy. Finally, with enough aeration the red fruit begins to show in the form of currants and cherries. Palate-wise this wine doesn’t want to give too much away in its infancy, so at this time it shows a litany of black: juicy blackberry, cassis, black cherry and black raspberry – dig deep enough and you’ll find some vanilla amongst those powerful black fruits and monster tannins. Set this in the cellar for a few years and let it come into its own. Price: $74.95 – Rating: *****