2005 The Colonial Estate Exile

(85% shiraz, 10% mourvedre and 5% grenache) Inky purple. Hugely aromatic, room-filling bouquet of dark berry compote, dark chocolate, violet, licorice and suave oak spices. Creamy and sweet but admirably restrained, with palate-staining flavors of kirsch, cassis and floral pastille. Bright minerality provides lift and silky tannins add support. Takes a weighty turn on the finish, revealing port-like plum and boysenberry flavors and remarkable persistence. For all its concentration, there's superb balance, even freshness to this behemoth.

The 2005 Exile was sourced from a single dry-farmed vineyard owned by the winery and located in the center of Nuriootpa. It is composed of 85% Shiraz, 10% Mourvedre, and 5% Grenache and was aged for 18-20 months in new French oak. Deep cherry-colored, it exhibits an alluring perfume of toasty oak, wood smoke, Asian spices, tar, blueberry, and black cherry. This leads to a full-bodied wine with chewy fruit, ripe flavors, great depth and concentration, and a pure, lengthy finish. Give this hedonistic effort 3-5 years in the cellar and drink it through 2030. Oct 2007, www.robertparker.com