Stephen Brook: A brick-red color, to be sure, though neither especially faded nor ethereal. The nose certainly showed considerable age, with aromas of wet earth and mushrooms and café au lait; fruit was not to the fore,but what remained was nonetheless delightful and enticing. On the palate, it was everything one would hope for from a centenarian: the fruit was still sweet and intense, with an astonishing purity and raciness; there were no evident tannins and no trace of astringency—it was a model of harmoniousness, delicious, complete, and very long. With bottles of this age, luck always plays a major part. We got lucky. 19.5