(June 18, 2016) … This double edged sword of a wine started out very alcoholic and harsh with earthy and cedary spices, it was hard to get passed the first few sips … but it’s 12 years old so I let it sit open, I even made the attempt to decant it a little, and wouldn’t ya know it came back to life: plum, cassis, and black cherry began to dominate with the earthy-dreary note taking a backseat and it developed a nice spicy kick on the finish … fresh and lively? No. Better than originally thought? You bet.