90 2003 Foley Santa Rita Hills P.N. Rancho Santa Rosa 3/25/06 ($27)
13.9% alc
Color: Medium deep, black cherry with a touch of purple. (3.0) Bouquet: Rich black cherry, beef broth and slightly chalky acidity. (3.0) Body: High acidity with sweet fruit that could be a bit more forward to meet the acidity. A solid middleweight that is relatively well balanced. (3.0) Flavor: Rich, sweet black cherry, uplifted by tart acidity Very tasty. (3.0) Finish: Parallels flavor with excellent length. Do get a slight acidic burn in the back of the throat. Also a Burgundian gaminess lingers. (3.0)
Overall: The acidity needs some time to totally integrate (1-3 years), but very tasty even now, although decanting for an hour or so is recommended at this point. This is promising, but not totally formed yet, whereas the 2002 is more of a sure thing (it gets the +), even though the two are very close in quality. (15.0)