Still hanging strong and opening slowly over a couple of hours.
A bit of bricking at the very edge otherwise colour is still that deep garnet black.
Nose of plums and blackberry.
Heaps of drying tannins with the first glass which overwhelm the soft sweet dark fruit but with the third glass this has all come good an is beautifully balanced, or more likely the palate has become more tolerant of the tannins.
Lovely fruit in a wine that is still very youthful for its near on 10 years.
Going to be doing well in another 5 to 10. Bloody good wine for one twice the price paid at release.
The Bin 61 is certainly an old favourite of mine, but it can be a bit hit and miss after some bottle age. I recently opened a 97 and a 99. The 99 was great, much the same as the 96 you just described, but the 97 was well and truly over the hill. A friend of mine recently opened a 98 and had a similar experience to my 97. I still have a few 97, 98 and 99 left so will report on how they go over the next few months as I intend to open a few.
I would be seriously interested in a mini vertical, my friend with a few in his collection has suggested it in the past but with the recent disappointments we thought maybe we would leave it. I have the 97 and 99 still (and possibly a 2000 but not sure from memory), I will check with Ken and see what he has and let you know.
Not being a member of *forum I don't know if there is a theme/quality of wine stipulated so I don't know if that would be appropriate. I will email you directly to discuss.
