This has evolved beautifully and it is one of the riper wines of the 1998 vintage. That is the good news. The bad news is that the toast and smoke character is very strong and some, like me for example, may find it almost too much. Underneath the toast there is good complexity to the ripe dark berry fruit aromas that now flirt with being secondary in character. There is excellent intensity to the impressively well-concentrated broad-shouldered flavors that possess both outstanding depth and length. For my taste this is drinking perfectly now though it should continue to do so for many years to come. In sum, this is a very seductive wine though I again underscore that the toast element is not subtle. I would add that a bottled tasted in December 2022 was badly corked.

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