NV Sean H. Thackery, Pleiades XII Old Vines

A blend of everything from several vintages, mostly 01 I understand, from Thackery's many plots in the Northern Rhone . . . which he calls "California" on the label. The bright, orange-laden viognier is moving, with enough flavor and high-note acidity to balance the intrusive backdrop of tar on the nose and palate. If tar were a perfume, it would smell like this wine. The finish is long, complex, and developing as the citrus and earth come together to make what I suppose blueberries might taste like if they were smoked over cedar. Tobacco. Sweet, silky tannins from some portion of wine that must be a decade old.