2007 Nico by Luca Malbec Laura Catena

...sourced from 50-year-old vines and aged for 18 months in new French oak. Deep purple in color with legs that coat the glass, it serves up a superb aromatic array of sandalwood, exotic spices, espresso, lavender, black cherry, and black plum. This is followed by a dense, rich, voluminous effort with intense flavors, precision balance, and a lengthy finish...

( just four barrels made) Bright saturated ruby. The nose offers an almost roasted ripeness to the aromas of dark fruits and bitter chocolate. Large-scaled, even massive, with a seamless wave of black fruit, dark chocolate and mocha flavor washing over the palate. An incredibly lush and full wine with broad fine-grained tannins and compellingly rich, deep finishing flavors of dark berries and chocolate...

Laura Catena's wines are very much aimed at the American market: heavy bottles, deep colour, sweet vanilla oak and oodles of blackberry fruit. This is rich and heady with bright, aromatic fruit, soft tannins, well integrated oak and a long, sweet, stylish finish with hidden tannins and bright acidity

A dark, dense and gorgeous wine that remains fresh, with juicy acidity driving the dark blackberry and boysenberry fruit through layers of spice, mocha and espresso flavors. An undercurrent of hot stone and silky tannins frame the long, floral finish.