Stephen Brook: It has been apparent for some time that the 1996 Margaux is a great wine, but it is only just beginning to open up. The color showed scarcely any evolution, but the nose had developed a beautiful cedary tone but without any trace of herbaceousness; there was freshness and elegance and a rapier-like purity. The attack was extraordinarily silky and the palate was immensely concentrated; the acidity, as so often in this vintage, was pronounced but with no trace of astringency. It’s a leaner style than in 2000, without that wine’s opulence; but it’s lively, tightly structured, and very long. 18.5