This wine has a deep ruby/purple color and displays a mouth-watering nose of lush red and black cherries that gives way to an awesomely supple, concentrated, extremely rich, and broad character. This satiny wine is loaded with deeply ripe and seductive cherries that linger in its impressively soft finish. Anticipated maturity: now-2004. What remains to be said about this wine crafted by the shy, self-effacing, and ever-smiling Claude Dugat? Well, it might be getting even better. While still having the opulence of fruit and suppleness that have made his wines renowned throughout the world, this wine appears to have more structure. My instincts have, in the past, been that Dugat's wines were best drunk young, but this wine displays the necessary balance between fruit, acidity, and backbone for extended cellaring. Perhaps Jean-Marc Joblot, the extremely talented Givry producer, said it best: "Claude Dugat's 1996s are the most beautiful expression of Pinot Noir I've ever had." A taster would have to be dead not to fall in love with these wines. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083.