Deep garnet. An oily nose, flat but acidified, making good use of bitter briar and alcohol burn to both uplift the relative non-fruit-existence and artificially sharpen the burnt remainders of its reality. Glossy and crammed full of all your sweet preserves, it makes a yummy pudding of the variety, doing the best it can with–what I am guessing is north of 15-0–the alcohol and concentration built into this bottle.

In the mouth, tertiary not yet complicating itself into anything to write rendolently home about, but it complements the nose in expectant ways. The burn of alcohol starts early and does not wane, finishing in a fiery blast uncomplicated with fruit or tannin. A glimpse of something licorice and salty arrives amidst much fatty glycerine mid-palate, a tree-bark nuance explaining little about this bottle.

2012 CURRAN Tempranillo Santa Barbara County 15.4

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