(8% alcohol with 370 g/l r.s.) Medium red. Impressively complex nose offers a wild bouquet of raspberry, violet, pepper, smoky Indian spices and vanilla. Juicy red and dark berry flavors are deep, sweet and sappy, with dark chocolate and candied flowers adding complexity. A building spiciness adds energy to the lush, liqueur-like berry flavors. Finishes with outstanding sweet persistence and lingering spices. Seven people took two days to hand-destem a mere 1.3 tons of fruit. Incidentally, the amount of fruit that Krankl pulls from his densely planted, severely green-harvested vineyard is absurdly low: in 2006 his white wine yield was 1.28 tons per acre, grenache was 1.31 tons per acre, and syrah was 1.52 tons.

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A curiosity that is clearly not among my favorites of this group is the 2005 Atlantis Fe 203-2d Grenache Vin de Paille from the Eleven Confessions Vineyard. With 8% alcohol, 370 grams per liter of residual sugar, and 12.2 grams of acidity, it still tastes disjointed at present, but I believe it just needs time to sort itself out. Krankl told me that every cluster was hand-destemmed, and it took seven people two full days to destem 1.3 tons of fruit ... an amazingly laborious effort. Perhaps it is because it is a sweet red that throws me off, especially in the company of such legendary whites, but I could not get my head wrapped around it as well as the others.

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