1996 Red Wine

Wine Spectator, 96 points: Fabulous aromas of crushed raspberries plums and blackberries. Mind-blowing nose. Full-bodied with soft and silky tannins and a long caressing finish. Hard not to drink now but leave it alone.--'95/'96 Bordeaux...

Neal Martin's Wine Journal, 95 points: The first bottle is corked. The second displays a very fine, cedar and tobacco infused nose: quintessentially ’96 claret. Does not quite have the precision of the ’05 or ’00 but more vigour than the ’95. The palate is...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC, 91 points: 91+ Very dark ruby red. Lively violet and dark berry aromas. Penetrating but supple; very bright flavor of dark berries complicated by spicy oak. Finishes very long, with dusty wood tannins. Very limited availability.

Stephen Tanzer's IWC, 93 points: ...Exotic aromas of black cherry cassis minerals smoke clove and mint. Thick with extract but with Ausone classic restrained sweetness and mineral backbone. Sound acidity gives the flavors superb clarity and grip...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 points: Tasted at the château, the 1996 Cos d'Estournel was aged in 65% new oak (unlike the 1995 which was 100%) and is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot. It has a straight down the line, intense and focused...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 91 points: This is a backward, muscular, highly-extracted wine with a boatload of tannin, thus the question mark. The saturated plum/purple color is followed by an aggressively oaky nose with scents of roasted coffee, blackberries...