Bright ruby. Vibrant, multifaceted nose combines black raspberry, plum, bitter chocolate, leather, tar and smoke, plus a floral nuance. Bright, focused and very intensely flavored, with lovely sweetness and noteworthy detail. Bitter chocolate and dark berry notes, with a sweet overlay of oak. A structured, delineated wine with compelling density and sappy verve. The very long finish features fine, complex tannins. A superb example that really captures the potential of this cool, European-styled v...

61% Cabernet Sauvignon; 39% Cabernet Franc. Typically the first of the up-scale clarets to debut, this 1999 lives up to its own past performances but does not show the grandeur to make us get excited about the vintage as a whole. Still, its mix of cassis, plum, raspberry and cocoa is hard to resist, and the underlying structure seems to assure that this one will be enjoyable now and over the next four to seven years.

Rating for United States-California: 88 (average year)<br/><br/>Drinkability: too young, let it sit<br/>