Dark garnet.  Effortlessly clogging your sinuses with eucalyptus and cassis sweetened with just enough mud to lend a spearmint creaminess to the piles of disgustingly ripe blackberry.  A somewhat construed sorta pond-water minerality casts a steely glare on what is fast wanting to become an oily bouquet.

Actually not as much of a glass-stainer as I expected, it saunters down a gauntlet of light-on-its-feet and jam-packed relative balance–avoiding sluttyness–tannins coiled about, ready to strike out against any assumptions you made from the nose.  An old-coin, black tea brilliance shines through all, including the already considerable sediment in the neck.  But most importantly the incredibly ripe fruit handicapping the complexity.

2013 BLACKBIRD VINEYARDS ‘Arise’ ME/Cab/CF 55/30/15 Napa Valley 14.5

www.blackbirdvineyards.com