Incredibly expressive nose of crushed red berries, raspberries, strawberry jam, candied cherries, sweet caramel, a hint of sous bois and strong presence of mint and menthol . As Justin pointed out, strong note of beguiling nose pedal. Fully integrated palate, shy and subtle sweet red fruits, strong presence of mineral, tar and seamless long finish. Compare to the RSV and La Tache, more integrated, feminine and mature nose. The palate is more linear and not as concentrated. Really lovely wine.

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This dark colored wine has a violet and cookie dough-laced nose that gives way to a velvety-textured, massively concentrated, masculine, broad-shouldered and powerful character. This full-bodied, thick, highly-structured, intense, and extraordinarily proportioned wine is crammed with candied blackberries, cassis liqueur, beef blood, and loads of supple tannins. Its immensely long finish tails off after 40 seconds on notes of sweet blueberries and vanilla-imbued oak. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2015+. Lalou Bize-Leroy bottled her Domaine d'Auvenay 1996s before harvesting the 1997s because "they were so good, I did not think they could get better". She compared them to the 1959s saying they had the same richness, fruit, and body at this stage of their evolution. Not having been born yet, I did not taste the '59s young but have been fortunate enough to drink a number of them in recent years. If Mme. Bize-Leroy is correct, and the 1996s evolve along the same lines, they will be mind-boggling in forty years.

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