It's rare to have the opportunity to taste the same wine in both 750 ml and magnum format (see the review herein) on the same day but I was privileged to do that in April, 2015. I hadn't tasted the '97 Bèze in several years so it was interesting to see that time hasn't really been good to it, which is pretty much the case with most '97s as they're beginning to dry out a bit on the finish. There is a slight herbal hint to the spicy, earthy and markedly ripe aromas that are now fully mature. The middle weight plus flavors possess good richness and an attractive mid-palate mouth feel though the finish is ever-so-mildly edgy and exhibits just a hint of dryness. To be sure, this is still quite pretty and the complexity and richness make for a quality drinking experience. That said, I would be drinking this up over the next 5ish years or so as I sense that the dryness will only become more pronounced with extended time in bottle. Magnum: It's rare to have the opportunity to taste the same wine in both 750 ml (see the review herein) and magnum format on the same day but I was privileged to do that. I hadn't tasted the '97 Bèze in several years so it was interesting to see that time hasn't really been good to it, which is pretty much the case with most '97s as they're beginning to dry out a bit on the finish and this is true for both formats. There is a slight herbal hint to the spicy, earthy and markedly ripe aromas that are now fully mature. The middle weight plus flavors possess good richness and an attractive mid-palate mouth feel though the finish is ever-so-mildly edgy and exhibit just a hint of dryness. To be sure, this is still quite pretty and the complexity and richness make for a quality drinking experience. That said, I would be drinking this up over the next 5ish years or so as I sense that the dryness will only become more pronounced with more time in bottle and again I repeat that this is true for the wine in magnum as well.

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