The supple

There is excellent minerality and a relatively refined mid-palate mouth feel despite ample muscle and punch reflected by the bitter-cherry

very deep crimson

There’s nothing attenuated or ethereal on the palate – it's remarkably dense

youthfully austere and solidly long finale

Raymond Usseglio, Chateauneuf Du Pape other_regions_australia The suppleRuby red. Aroma of red fruit liqueur. Sweet and nicely concentrated, with good volume but only modest nuance. Shows good freshness and fruit, but finishes with some youthfully tough tannins. Seems distinctly cleaner than a bottle of the '98 I tasted last year. However, my sample of the '99 Cuvee Imperiale was plagued by a raw wood quality that dried its finish. Stephen Tanzer