Once again there is plenty of secondary character but no sous-bois present on the notably more elegant and beautifully well-layered nose that displays a really lovely array of spice, tea and wisps of sandalwood. There is fine volume, concentration and focused power to the big-bodied flavors that possess a highly seductive mouth feel before culminating in a mouth coating and still quite firm finish that delivers superb persistence. This is a Riche of contrasts as the mid-palate is velvety while the finish is robust and borderline chewy. Like the '95 while this should live for years, I doubt that it's going to be any more interesting than it is now. Note that I have experienced more than a little bottle variation with this wine as some examples have been hard and charmless.

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