2006 Bond St Eden

Dark red-ruby. Reticent but pure aromas of dark berries, tobacco and iron. Plummy and concentrated on the palate, showing a slight medicinal reserve. Not hugely expansive but has the energy for further positive evolution in bottle. This wine was seriously tannic and clenched in the way of a young port shortly after the bottling but is developing a bit faster than I would have predicted. 93 points

From the valley floor vineyard in Oakville, the 2006 St. Eden has shed some of its tannic clout of last year and taken on a generously endowed style, with stunning black fruits, roasted herbs, sweet cassis, graphite and new oak. Fleshy and even opulent (an anomaly for a 2006), this is an impressively endowed Cabernet Sauvignon to drink over the next 25 years. 94 points