($92-$125) Bright medium ruby. Deep, superripe aromas of dark berries, black cherry and bitter chocolate; slightly exotic crystallized fruit aspect. Dense, sweet and wonderfully rich; a lovely combination of palate-caressing chocolatey fruit and firm underlying structure. Finishes with excellent grip and great palate-saturating sweetness. Another outstanding 1996 Medoc wine in the making.

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I tasted the 1996 Ducru Beaucaillou on four separate occasions from bottle in January. The 1996 is long, with a deep mid-palate. It also reveals tannin in the finish. This wine is remarkable. It is muscular, concentrated, and classic. Bottled in late June, 1998, it exhibits a saturated ruby/purple color, as well as a knock-out nose of minerals, licorice, cassis, and an unmistakable lead pencil smell that I often associate with top vintages of Lafite-Rothschild. It is sweet and full-bodied, yet unbelievably rich with no sense of heaviness or flabbiness. The wine possesses high tannin, but it is extremely ripe, and the sweetness of the black currant, spice-tinged Cabernet Sauvignon fruit is pronounced. This profound, backward Ducru-Beaucaillou is a must purchase. It will be fascinating for readers who own the 1996 to follow the evolution of this exceptional vintage.

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A thoroughly outstanding wine, sleek and racy with loads of character. Intense floral and blackberry aromas, with hints of mineral. Full-bodied, with supersilky tannins and a long, long finish. Give it time. 18,000 cases made.

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Beautifully made Bordeaux. Medium ruby in the glass, with nose including flowers and dark red fruit. Fruit and tannins are extremely well balanced now, and could be a clone of the Chateau Lafite Rothschild from this year, although the Ducru does not quite have the same finesse. Long finish with notes of graphite.