Always a great night when drinking this wine. Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright. The nose is classic with cassis, sandalwood, slight cedar, baking spices, and slight char. Full bodied. Tannins are mostly integrated but a few remain. The texture is beautiful. Almost seamless. great balance. On the palate, this is delicious. Mature but plenty of life left. Notes of cassis, plums with underlying char. Long finish. Complex, it unwinds in the glass. This is wonderful on its own, and will work well with bigger foods. It would work well with roasted chicken or duck. At age 17, this is cruising along nicely but this did seem a bit more advanced than a bottle consumed in August. Not a concern in any way though.