1996 Jacques-Frederic Mugnier, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

Finally, the nose is beginning to display the first hints of initial maturity though to be clear, it remains youthful and will continue to positively develop as the full-bodied, precise and intense medium weight plus flavors are still vibrant and relatively tight on the sleekly muscled and powerful finish. The finish narrows just a bit and it is this aspect that ultimately prevents this otherwise gorgeous effort from meriting a higher overall score. It's possible if this broadens with additional bottle age that my score could be conservative.

Bright cherry-red. Highly aromatic nose of strawberry, raspberry, chocolate, smoke and herbs. Rather unforthcoming in the mouth, but there's more size and body here. Some briary high tones in the mouth. Finishes with subtle, persistent fruit; the tannins hit the palate quite late.