Production: 15,000 cases Alcohol: 13.7% Blend: 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Cabernet Franc; Harvest Dates: September 23 to October 19. Composed of 52% Tre Colline fruit, 27% from Bancroft Ranch and the balance from the St. Helena Home Vineyard and Chabot Vineyard, this vintage was characterized by high heat spikes in August that complicated things after intermittent rain had caused flowering issues in May. Fortunately, September cooled off and gave most vineyards a chance to ripen more evenly. The wine reveals ragged tannins as well as a more overt herbaceous character, medium to full body, and a more angular, austere personality that lacks the charm, fat, sweetness and unctuosity of the top vintages. The 1996 is a very good Private Reserve and on its own may show slightly better, but it is clearly the weakest link in the first eight vintages of the nineties. It is fully mature and is unlikely to get any better. In fact there is a danger of desiccation with further aging, so drink it over the next 4-5 years.

This wine is still young and precocious, but don’t judge it too quickly. Let it air in your glass, and watch how it changes. One minute it’s all cherries and smoke; the next it heaves up a great draught of currants, cocoa and cedar. It’s a big wine but deceptive; the tannins are airy and lilting, there’s charm and underneath, enormous complexity. It’s best left alone for a few more years, but it’s really very lovely now. ——S.H.(2/1/2001)—— 95