Medium ruby. Expressive, slightly herbaceous aromas of cassis, tobacco leaf, licorice and pepper. Supple in texture but much smaller-scaled than the '99. Fairly intense flavors of espresso, pepper, maple syrup and roasted tomato. Togni declassified nearly 20% of his barrels in '98.

Rating for United States-California: 85 (slightly worse than average year)<br/><br/>Drinkability: drink now<br/>