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). Mouthfeel 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.