Impenetrable, staining garnet with ruby edges.  Huge funky, bretty, vegetal nose blows off after 20 mins or so.  During that–and after that–just oodles of concentrated dark fruit, ultra-ripe cherry, cassis, vanilla.  Really, “Concentrated” just keeps coming up over and over.  I am not accustomed to Mendo cabs shocking me in the ‘concentrated’ category.  Sure, they can be huge in lots of things… briar or tannin but just pure concentrated ultra-rich sweet fruit?  This one could teeter into the ‘cloying’ arena very easily but for the ample–and fairly typical–Mendo briar and acid evident even in the nose.  With ample air this thing could easily be called flabby.  Still, the layers of structure are compelling.  In the mouth, fruit takes a bit of a back-seat to visceral acidity and huge tongue-wrapping tannin but the blackberry qualities offer a nice juxtaposition.  This is an amazing bottle of cab, with intense briar and just a by-line of age.  Approaching nearly perfect right now, and a few of these in the cellar would reward over the next 5 years.  The nose tells a story of 10-15 years, but the taste argues for something which might lack fruit in the long-term.  Tough to tell, although I usually trust my nose on such issues.  13-7 and  ♦♦♦  because this is exactly the way I like my cabs.