Allen Meadows - Score: 93 (2019 Mar.)

The highly expressive, pure, pretty and exquisitely complex aromas display notes of secondary red and dark fruit, spice elements and earth, indeed this is positively kaleidoscopic in breadth. The still moderately tannic, sappy, intense and equally complex flavors deliver a refined mouth feel on the notably vibrant, explosive and gorgeously long finish that displays just a hint of acid tang. This is a fine effort in the context of the vintage where the only shortcoming is the absence of outstanding density though in fairness to the domaine, this is true of most '96s. While this could easily be enjoyed now with 30 minutes or so of aeration, personally I will continue to hold my bottles for a few more years as the mild dryness does not appear to be a major concern, at least not at this point. Tasted many times over the years with largely consistent notes; I say largely because I have noticed that some bottles exhibit noticeable reduction though a quick aeration is generally sufficient to dissipate it.