2009 Viader Proprietary Red

Full, bright ruby. Very ripe but fresh scents of blackberry, licorice, minerals, espresso and dark chocolate. Thick and large-scaled for this bottling, but still with the energy of the vintage's better examples to frame its chewy flavors of black fruits, graphite and chocolate. This wine is ready to drink but still fresh, and it struck me as less extreme than the rather port-like '07 was two years ago. The Viader blend often expresses itself relatively quickly but the better vintages can easily go on for 20 years. Not the last word in finesse but concentrated, tactile and long, finishing with palate-saturating tannins and a repeating chocolatey quality.

(70% cabernet sauvignon and 30% cabernet franc): Lovely cabernet franc-dominated aromas of flowers, menthol and caraway seed, plus a whiff of dusty clove. Silky-sweet and vinous, offering seamless yet sharply delineated flavors of redcurrant, graphite and flowers, plus a whiff of meat. This really pleasures the mouth. Beautifully made and graceful wine with a very long, edge-free finish. "Two thousand nine was a classic vintage for us," noted Alan Viader. This should evolve gracefully.

(71% cabernet sauvignon and 29% cabernet franc): Good full medium red. Raspberry and cherry aromas complicated by sexy exotic spices and flowers. Very ripe and plush, with the red fruit and spice flavors carrying through on the palate. Boasts an almost glyceral chewiness, but a saline, savory quality provides a degree of restraint. Finishes with substantial broad tannins. Fatter and rounder than the 2008, but without quite that wine's verve. This has a pH of 3.9, with 14.5% alcohol.