1996 Taylor Vargellas

[winesecretary]

I have a cold so note, and tasting ability, attenuated but my guest demands something to go with the cheese so here we are. From half bottle. A thirty-minute decant. Looks mature, darker than merely red, 70% opaque. A faint prickle of heat on the nose. On the palate, the red fruits have largely gone and the secondary damson tones are in control. Pleasant but not exceptional drinking on this showing and, in half bottle, certainly ready to go, unlike its 1995 and 1998 siblings, although I question whether the latter vintage, always slightly tough to my palate, will ever be this attractive.