Tough to pick a winner here. The '95 showed great vibrancy and has plenty more time ahead with notes of 5 spice, white pepper, sous bois, cassis, and briary blackberry. The '96 showed a touch of brett, and while not as detailed as the '95, showed more concentration of fruit and had a longer finish. Both held together well over the 2 hours they were consumed. Hard to say which I liked better.

1995 - 92+ pts.

1996 - 93 pts.

drab, Thanks for the notes. I've noticed you have used the sous bois descriptor a few times lately.
Would you please enlighten me as to what that is and how to interpret that smell? The majority of the internet search hits reference european hostels...I'm assuming that's not the smell you are associating it with.

To be honest...I've stayed in a few hostels (I can think of one in Amsterdam) that certainly had a smell of sous bois! But, in essence, I would call it an earthy/underbrush/forrest floor element. That's how I've seen in used.