(73% cabernet sauvignon, 15% merlot, 10% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot; 5.11 g/ltotal acidity; 13.2% alcohol): Dark ruby-red with a hint of garnet at the rim. Crème de cassis complemented by floral, tobacco and incense notes on the brightly aromatic nose. Very well balanced, clean, and juicy, with good inner-mouth perfume and energy to the dark fruit, cedar, herb and graphite flavors. The finish features mounting tannins that teeter on the brink of drying. This seems to have picked up some flesh and volume with bottle age, but I hope the fruit outlives the tannins. It's a lovely wine that lacks only the power of the best vintages.

A charming, lush, round, generous Lynch Bages, the 1999 offers plenty of sweet black currant fruit, damp earth, licorice, cedarwood and spicy herb-like characteristics. Medium-bodied, savory and broad in the mouth with no hard edges, this fully mature effort is a somewhat underrated vintage for this estate. Enjoy it over the next decade.