I have avoided this label for years just because… well… the label.  Deep deep ruby–not staining–and only barely bricking edges.  Kinda surprised to find so much 2006 on a shelf.  Kinda like Cottonwood Creek, only I don’t think Cottonwood Creek should cellar-age quite so long.  This one definitely has benefited from it.  There is just a *slight* patina of age noticeable but it is still pretty huge and only beginning to settle down.  Amazing, deep, round dark-cherry, laurel, roasted meat, and alcohol in the nose.  I have to caveat this with the hint of EXTREME funkiness in the initial-opening nose.  Decanted heavily and things fell into place wonderfully.  This monster does not pour well straight outa-the-bottle.  Still, the AL is the dominate theme in the nose.  So sad.  I am pegging this at 14-6 at BEST.  Then you taste it.  Round and mouthfilling–chewy even, and EVERYTHING you were promised in the nose comes through in TENFOLD in the taste.  I am really impressed with the extraction and concentration of this wine.   Not for the weak-hearted.  But at the same time it is not that whole giant over-wrought over-ripe things some new-World-ers have come to expect and enjoy.  It really is a bit more restrained than that.  That is not to say it is not a bit flabby.  See the conundrums here?  If it were a 2009 I would lambaste it for being fat and lonely.  But with nearing a decade on it, I have to be a bit more careful because CLEARLY it has lasted.  This is a pretty decent wine, actually.  Quite amazed at both myself for taking so long to try these and that it has sat on a liquor-store shelf since 2006 and still has serious chops.  The Alcohol is definitely the forward portion and pokes it’s ugly nose in on all levels.  That is a flaw.  But it is rich and ripe and deep and round and spicy and nuanced into something no one can say No to.  Tannins are showing no signs of surrendering and that pesky AL lingers into the long finish.  Label claims 14-9.  A pretty great wine, really.  Would really like to know what the blend is here.  Guessing something like 30-30 cab/SY with other suspects.   ♦