Floral start with lots of lush orchard fruit aromas with a toasty note. Similarly fat fruit flavors with big spice and good concentration. Good now, with the structure to hold and drink nicely for perhaps another decade.

Popped and poured. Lemon and apple aromas with subtle spice. Same flavor profile starts with forward fruit, but mineral and acid textures really emerge nicely from middle to finish. Very good now, and I expect this will continue to drink well for another 5 years.

Oxidized to start, then far more oxidized when re-tasted an hour later.

Oxidized to start, still oxidized when revisited an hour later.

Very ripe black fruit with some summer flowers. Some thought this perhaps heat damaged, but I found it to be just very ripe and slightly short on acidity, so advanced more than the best of the 1990s.

Mature black fruit with tobacco and lots of earth. Moderate intensity and length.

Ripe on nose and palate, but with enough structure that enables this to retain a nice balance, even if it will never be an elegant wine.

Ripe black plum and berries, liqueur hints, espresso and dark chocolate. Good overall balance. Most likely no upside from here. Better than another bottle from a few months ago.

I don't know if this was a tired bottle of the wine itself, but very barnyardy (not abnormal for Jaboulet) and far simpler than I'd expect for the vintage at this age.

Slightly more sweet than I'd prefer and certainly simpler. I'm not exactly sure I could think of this as anything that should be called "Gran Reserva."