($125; a blend of 75% cabernet sauvignon, 20% sangiovese and 5% cabernet franc) Medium to full garnet. Enticing perfume of cedar, sweet incense, pipe tobacco and Indian spices. Warm and generous on the palate, with focused raspberry flavors framed by mouthcoating tannins. Dark berry fruit and minty overtones accompany the long finish.

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Solaia has been one of Italy's most brilliant wines since the early eighties. Made in a Bordeaux-like style, it will age for two decades or more. The 1998, a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sangiovese, and 5% Cabernet Franc (8,000 cases), was aged for 14 months in new and one-year old French oak casks prior to being bottled without filtration. Yields were a low 30 hectoliters per hectare. The 1998 is a classically-structured, dense, full-bodied, youthful, well-balanced wine designed for cellaring. Its opaque ruby/purple color is accompanied by a classic bouquet of black currants, vanillin, earth, tobacco, and a touch of mint. Full-bodied, moderately tannic, dense, and concentrated, this backward 1998 needs 3-4 years of cellaring.

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Rich aromas of smoke, sage and ripe fruit follow to a full-bodied palate, with big, velvety, chewy tannins and a long, mouthpuckering finish. This needs time. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese. 7,000 cases made.

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