2006 Opus One Proprietary Blend - USA - California - Napa - Napa Valley - Red

($180; a five-variety Bordeaux blend based on 77% cabernet sauvignon) Saturated deep ruby. Cassis, bitter chocolate and sexy smoky oak on the nose. Dense and sweet but firmly structured, with lovely inner-mouth aromatic quality giving the wine sappy lift. Pure, penetrating flavors of cassis, lead pencil and bitter chocolate, with a sexy oak quality that I can only describe as Mouton-like. This is still quite tightly wound and will need several years of bottle aging to soften up (it won't be released until the fall of this year). "The biggest change here has been our independence," said winemaker Michael Silacci, who took over winemaking responsibilities with the 2004 vintage; previously former partners Mouton-Rothschild and Robert Mondavi were involved in crafting this wine.

Firm, dense and concentrated, with excellent structure and a complex mix of herb, currant, sage and spice, providing a tight, savory profile. Ends with a loamy currant character.

Not surprisingly, the 2006 is a bigger, more muscular, less charming effort displaying unbridled power, full-bodied richness, and notes of new saddle leather, black fruits, roasted herbs, and burning embers. Powerful and rich with sweet tannin, low acidity, and more structure and density than the 2005 as well as less nuance and complexity, the 2006 should be consumed over the next 15+ years.