Small glass, brief note. Fantastic aromas, mature red berry and cherry with sweet and savory spice with earth. Similar flavors, slightly less complex. slightly drying finish. Best now.

Small glass, brief note. What a treat. While this started seeming aromatically slightly tired, it certainly freshened up with 30-45 minutes in glass. Mushroom, black teas, fully mature black berries. Great nose, good flavors.

From magnum. Ripe fruit showing baked apple and some peach hints, along with candied ginger. Enough energy for freshness and better textures. Very long.

Small glass, brief note. One of my contributions tonight, this needed lots more air. Extremely firm with little pleasure this evening. Very good concentration bodes well for another bottle at another time.

Small glass, brief note. Pear and apple with some toasted nuts, white pepper. Good energy, good length. Needs time to soften.

Small glass, brief note. Very ripe and lush, still nicely fresh. Certainly enough structure, with acidity and minerality providing textural support. Very long with a good burst of energy on finish.

Small glass, brief note. Light styled wine, very un-1996-like with little of interest, even if nothing "wrong."

Corked.

My 2nd bottle for tonight. Plenty of ripe with some lemon hints. Fruit expanded with more time. very long with elegant mineral streaks. Good now, certainly still with future upside.

Small glass, brief note. Fully mature black fruit, lots of earth. Good spice on palate. slightly dirty finish to me. I liked this wine tonight, while some others liked it a lot more.

Small glass, brief note. Much like the bottle from last night, but somewhat more challenging in tonight's context where fleshier wines come across as less balanced. But still very concentrated and fun.

Small glass, brief note. Dark and very concentrated with black fruit, slightly sweet spice and espresso and dark chocolate hints. Very good balance, very good length and finessed textures. I'm not usually a big Masseto fan, but I have liked this 2007 every time tasted.

Corked.

Small glass, brief note. An odd wine tonight. Decanted before serving, but still shut down when first poured. Open and expressive 30 minutes later with slowly maturing black fruit, liqueur hints and great spice. Then it seemed to shut down when re-tasted an hour later. That point in the middle was consistent with other recent bottles (all showing great), but the later pour was not.

Small glass, brief note. From magnum. Ripe and rich fruit that I enjoyed, but extremely dominated by a spice note that would seem to be very whole cluster driven, giving it an off-center character.

Small glass, brief note. Fresh and dried apricot with candied ginger. Some vintages are hedonistic and ultra concentrated, but this 2002 is amazingly elegant and a textural beauty.

Small glass, brief note. Maturing black fruit aromas with tobacco, licorice, and good intensity. Rich start on the palate, but just moderate length.

Small glass, brief note. Spice driven start with black and red fruit. Very good aromatic start, but more restrained flavors, seemingly somewhat shut down right now. would have benefited from more air. 92 point potential, but not at that pleasure level tonight.

Small glass, brief note. Very concentrated, ripe and dense, beyond what I'd normally consider enjoyable. But it went well with chocolate dessert, so that's a bonus.