Very dark purple, almost black. Decanted almost an hour prior to serving. There was a touch of cedar smoke in the nose which integrated well as the wine opened up with a racy streak of blueberries. The same fruit continued in the mouth with a fairly large wine that seemed well integrated with a rich meal of Oso Bucco. I'll give this one a 90.

Truchard continues to make great wines. They have yet to disappoint at a reasonable price point.

It takes a lot of good beer to make great wine.

Babnik,
Nice notes. We are Truchard devotees as well. Our experience with its syrah does not go back to 96, but the 99 was a knockout for a great price.

Cheers!
And remember: Life's too short to drink bad wine.

Ditto on the Truchard bandwagon from here in Louisville. Try the '99 PN, too. It's still a bit young - but is showing a lot of potential.

...hey, chief - you gonna finish that bottle?

Kybo,
Have some PN and holding.

Cheers!
And remember: Life's too short to drink bad wine.

I haven't had the '96, but I've had the '97 and '99. I think the '99 is one of the very best young Syrahs I've ever tasted. The '97 was good, but the '99 was better.

Just one more sip.

Another Truchard fan here: great wine and very nice people.

Had the 97 Syrah in August and thought it could use more time, 90 CN points at that time.

CabNut