Deep ruby. Aromatic, nuanced, higher-pitched aromas of blackcurrant, cassis and licorice. Youthful black fruit flavors given shape and delineation by lively acids. Firm, fresh and very long. At once big and subtle. In comparison with the '96, this wine substantial, dusty tannins reach more of the mouth. Not as extravagantly dense and ripe as the '94, but compelling cabernet nevertheless, and likely to be long-lived.

The 1995 bottling veers away from typical Hillside Select richness and flamboyance and comes up fairly hard and stiff on the palate. But for a bit of finishing dryness, it displays few of the aspects of age, but we do not find the juicy heart here to balance its very prominent tannins, or to encourage the lengthy cellaring that the wine requires. Originally reviewed at *.