Wayne Gretzky Estates No. 99 The Icon 2010

On Dec. 30, 1981, Wayne Gretzky scored five goals against the Philadelphia Flyers to seal a 7-5 victory for the Edmonton Oilers and record a currrently untouchable record of 50 goals in 39 games. That was then, and this is now and perhaps his greatest achievement from a wine point of view is the Icon 2010 red, a bold blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon that saw 22 months in new oak and is finished unfined and unfiltered. This is one heck of a wine. It's dark and thick in the glass with highly extracted black cherry, black currants, roasted Espresso bean, vanilla toast, mocha and an array of thrilling spices swirling around on the nose. It's big, bold and brash, but not clunky, on the palate and built for the cellar with black fruits, lifted spices, cocoa, vanilla, black licorice, campfire smoke, persistence through the finish and grippy tannins. Needs time for the moving parts to all come together but I sense it will be a beautiful wine once that takes place. Score - 92. (Rick VanSickle, winesinniagara.com, Jan 21, 2013)