A very strong, powerful wine with an opaque ruby/purple color and a tight but promising bouquet of black currants intermixed with iron, smoke, licorice, and dried herbs, this muscular, very masculine, brawny wine seems built for the long haul. Will it ever shed all of its tannin? Anticipated maturity: 2004-2018. Last tasted, 3/02. - Robert Parker (Bordeaux Book, 4th Edition - January 2003)

The 1988 Rauzan-Ségla is a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot, which apparently suffered a little coulure that year. Readers should note that it was tasted from a freshly poured bottle and one that had been decanted for one hour, simply for comparison purposes. Now this has a flipping gorgeous bouquet with precocious fruit for a 1988, mulberry and touches of peppermint verging on eucalyptus. The palate perhaps has not quite kept up the nose, yet it remains fresh and “solid” with firm tannin, truffle tinged black fruit intermingling with cedar and undergrowth. This is certainly the best of three or four bottles that I have tried over the years and having tasted several other vintages from this era, one of the best of the decade. Tasted at the château. May 2018

Raspberry and dark chocolate on the nose. Full-bodied, with a solid core of fruit and mint, berry and raspberry flavors. A little tight right now. Decant an hour or two before serving. Improving with age still.—'88/'98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Drink now. 16,000 cases made. — JS