Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: 95 points

Saturated ruby-red. Bright, pure aromas of cassis, licorice and bitter chocolate. Juicy and sweet, with an almost liqueur-like flavor of cassis pastille. Wonderfully dense and thick but with great clarity and harmony and already showing captivating inner-mouth perfume. Compelling building finish features melting tannins buried in fruit. A standout of the vintage. This seems even more youthful than my memory of the basic 1997 bottling. A relative Brunello bargain, if you can find it in the retail marketplace. (A Marc de Grazia selection importers include Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY Vin Divino, Chicago, IL and Estate Wines Ltd., San Rafael, CA)

Review date: September 2003