Tingle...

"Ripe and solidly built, with dark plum and raspberry fruit layered with violet, mineral and licorice flavors. The fresh acidity keeps it all together. Drink now through 2008. 5,830 cases made. 90 points." --James Molesworth, Wine Spectator
Well, well when I saw this one for sale for $22 I figured it should be a no-brainer, right? Not so fast...ripe it is with zesty raspberry fruit, almost too much so. The only violet in it is it's colour - opaque with a violet rim. Licorice I can faintly ascertain, but everything is overpowered by that acidity...it is so prominent that my mouth tingles for minutes after a sip. In it's favour, if you decant it for a couple of hours it settles down a bit. So, if your palate needs waking up, crack a bottle of this, boring it isn't.
I say it's a "good" wine, which doesn't equate to 90 points in my books. I wonder what would have happened to this one if it was aged in new oak for at least a year...
Cheers!!