Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2012 Shiraz The Armagh offers a gorgeous perfume of baking spices, violets, Sichuan pepper and fragrant earth. More earthy and savory in the mouth than on the nose, the palate is superbly structured and taut—built for the long-haul—with a long, complex finish. Still very youthfully, forget this wine for 3-5 more years and consider drinking it over the next 20+.

Opaque, bright-rimmed ruby. A complex array of ripe dark fruits and pungent flowers take on suggestions of vanilla, clove, star anise and roasted coffee. Broad and alluringly sweet on the palate, offering deeply concentrated cassis, cherry liqueur, spicecake and mocha flavors that show impressive energy for their heft. Delivers outstanding clarity and spicy drive on an extremely long, sweet finish that features velvety tannins and lingering smokiness.

The 2012 Shiraz The Armagh was bottled 60% under Stelvin and 40% under cork. This is bottle I'm tasting from is Stelvin. There is quince and raisin on the nose and in the mouth here. It's really delicious, with soft eating-licorice on the mid-palate. Note of ferrous and blood plume through the wine. There is peat and lichen too, along with freshly turned earth; I love the middle palate through to the finish, which is particularly good. It has a tight finish and is the lowest in alcohol (13.7%) of the lineup, from the cool year that was 2012. It matured for 20 months in 60% new French and 40% new American hogsheads (300 liter). It's hard to imagine that this will do anything other than age exceptionally gracefully.

Deep ruby core with bricking at the rim. Wow! The concentration on the nose is quite something, pure blackcurrant leaf, cassis and a eucalypt note. So soft on the palate and really rather developed. The tannins are fully resolved (actually surprisingly so) and the acidity is vibrant and carries it beautifully. Stunning, and à point , but not sure how much longer it will go. (AC)