Not quite inky in color, but an opaque purple showing some deep burgundy highlights on the bright rim. This definitely needed extended decant time as the nose didn't start to open up until 24+hrs and wasn't at it's best until 48+hrs. At that point the prominent note of sweet and tangy boysenberries was complemented by a lovely dark chocolate undertone, mineral notes, and something that kept bringing to mind root beer (birch bark, sassafras, liquorice root, wintergreen...). On day three I also found a floral aspect coming out.
The initial attack of sweet fruit is juicy and quite lush and again brings to mind boysenberry as well as blueberry and plum, with vanilla bean being noted on day 3. Although there is good richness and ample tannic structure, the overall impression is more of voluptuousness than brawn. There's good balance through the midpalate and the spirit seems to be very nicely woven into the wine at this young age. The medium-long finish gained a bit of length with aeration though even when showing at it's best it wasn't quite a long finish. That said, it was about the only thing that held me back from scoring this higher. A delicious young VP that will probably be a very nice mid-term ager. I'd guess it's one to drink in the 10-25yr window.
If I had scored it each day it probably would have been 91/92/93/92, so for now: 92+ with good potential.
I'm happy to say that I have another couple of these to lay down for the future. At that price, definitely a steal.
![[cheers.gif]](./images/smilies/cheers.gif "Toast"){kind=small}