If you like oak, you’ll love this wine. The opening smell is of smoky, charred wood, caramel and toast. In the mouth, sweet oak and spicy wood-sap dominate. If the fruit were strong enough to carry all these barrels, fine, but it’s not. Seems like the vintage was light and the winemaker strove to compensate with wood. ——S.H.(6/1/2002)—— 86