Big and ripe. Dark ruby-garnet color. Very ripe berry, chocolate and plum aromas. Full-bodied and chewy, with lots of tannins and a very ripe fruit finish. Tight, muscular and concentrated. Needs time.--1990 Bordeaux retrospective. Best after 2005.

Three bottles of the 1990 tasted recently (all from my cellar) had me perplexed about where this wine is heading. It is a complex effort with lots of cedar, sweet caramelized black raspberries and cherries as well as hints of licorice and underbrush. However, the color reveals some disturbing amber at the edge, and the wine is loosely knit on the palate without the concentration and generosity I saw three or four years ago. It is either falling apart at an accelerated pace, or it is going through an awkward state.