From my own cellar, the 1996 Clos du Marquis has sometimes been a wine that I have respected more than I have liked, yet in the last year, it appears to have undergone a transformation into a much more generous wine. Wafting from the glass with aromas of cherries, cassis, mint and sweet soil tones, my most recent bottle was medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a deep core of fruit, supple tannins and a long, saline finish. If this trend continues, the 1996 is liable to displace the 1985 as my favorite mature vintage of Clos du Marquis.

A terrific Clos du Marquis, and clearly of second or third-growth quality, this dark purple-colored wine reveals structure, brooding backwardness, and rich, expansive character. The wine exhibits plenty of sweet kirsch black currant fruit intermixed with high quality, subtle new oak, and steely, mineral characteristics. Rich and medium to full-bodied, with ripe tannin, this is a dazzling Clos du Marquis. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2018.