I bought a few of these a few years ago based on a friends comments about the 2001 and 2002. When I had my first one in 2007, I regretter the purchase. It was incredibly tight with very drying tannins. I had serious concerns about whether the fruit would ever survive the time ti would take for the tannins to moderate. As it has been a bit over 2 years, I decided to open one tonight.
It is much better than it was 2 years ago. The flavors have begun to express themselves. It shows very dark fruit and licorice, with some spiciness that reminds me of a bit of petit verdot, although this is 100% cab. But, the midpalate is a bit thin though and then it still finishes with the drying tannins that it showed in the past.
The wine still misses the mark for me because of the thin midpalate and the tannins on the end, but I don’t dread opening the the remaining 2 bottles that I have, although I will give them another 2 years to see if the tannins integrate some more.