The 1996 Haut Batailley has a modest bouquet with blackberry, cedar and briary scents, not the most complex you will find but it has an attractive purity, a subtle floral scent emerging with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with a supple entry. There is agreeable tertiary black fruit here although I find it just needs more cohesion and backbone towards the finish that feels a little "loose limbed." Perhaps over 20 years it has become a little slack, although the length is commendable. I would drink this now and over the next decade. Tasted July 2016. -Neal Martin