Nose: Raspberries, wet cedar, oak, spice, some blackberries, and a little vanilla.

Taste: Woo, raspberries! Also blackberries, sour cherries, and a little bit of blueberry. There’s also plenty of spice, along with some cedar and vanilla oak (eh, not quite enough to deter me). Mouth feel is lush, dense, and surprisingly silky; my palate expected a much rougher ride than this, what with all the spice and hyperberry flavor. A spicy raspberry/blackberry tang coats my mouth and persists on the long finish.

If this wine had a touch more oak, I probably wouldn’t like it. It’s just shy of the danger level on my palate’s oak-o-meter. And it’s a fruit bomb (woo, raspberries!)—another almost-strike against this wine. And it’s a little hot (15.2% alcohol)—that should be strike three. And yet… I think I’ve fallen victim to the spice and berries here: those flavors keep me from hating or even disliking The Guilty. What can I say? It’s tasty.