1996 Chateau Haut Brion Pessac Leognan Premier Grand Cru Classe has following scores - The Wine Advocate 96, The Wine Front 96, Jeff Leve The Wine Cellar Insider 96, Tom Cannavan 95, John Kapon Vintage Tastings 95. 1996 Chateau Haut Brion Pessac Leognan Premier Grand Cru Classe has the score of 96 from Robert Parker and the tasting note -While it's the Médoc that tends to steal the limelight in this vintage, the 1996 Haut-Brion, the fruit of a strict selection, is a brilliant wine and comparatively underestimated today. Wafting from the glass with aromas of tobacco leaf, sweet currant fruit, loamy soil, cedar box and camphor, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and intense, with a deep core of fruit, sweet tannins and a long, sapid finish. 1996 Chateau Lafite Rothschild Pauillac has following scores - Falstaff Magazine 100, Jeff Leve The Wine Cellar Insider 100. 1996 Chateau Lafite Rothschild Pauillac has the score of 98 from Robert Parker and the tasting note -The 1996 Lafite-Rothschild was remarkably deep in color considering that it is now 20 years in age. The bouquet is classic Pauillac with pencil shavings and sous-bois infusing the black fruit, masculine and a little aloof, yet focused and very well delineated. The palate is very well balanced with crisp blackberry and boysenberry fruit, spicier than I recollect, a crescendo of flavors so that it seems understated at first but fans out with a sense of confidence towards the finish. I think this still has more to give so cellar it away for another 5-8 years if you can, but otherwise this is an exemplary Lafite-Rothschild that I can envisage getting better and better in bottle, if not quite as enthralling as either Mouton-Rothschild or Château Margaux. 1996 Chateau Latour Grand Vin Pauillac has following scores - The Wine Advocate 99, Jeannie Cho Lee (formerly Asian Palate) 99, Jeff Leve The Wine Cellar Insider 98, John Kapon Vintage Tastings 98. 1996 Chateau Latour Grand Vin Pauillac has the score of 95+ from Robert Parker and the tasting note -From my cellar, the 1996 Latour is still a very youthful, tightly wound wine, unfurling in the glass with notions of blackcurrants, loamy soil, cigar wrapper and English walnuts. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's built around by ripe, increasingly melting tannins and a bright spine of acidity, concluding with a long, penetrating finish. Given this Latour's ruby-black hue and impeccable structure, it still has a long future ahead of it. Today, it really begins to expatiate after four hours in a decanter. 1996 Chateau Margaux has following scores - The Wine Advocate 100. 1996 Chateau Margaux has the score of 98 from Robert Parker and the tasting note -When I used to drink this wine as a student, it generally left me a bit cold, but several recent bottles of the 1996 Château Margaux lead me to think that I must have had bad luck with a poorly stored batch of bottles. Along with Haut-Brion, Margaux is the most forward of the 1996 first growths, offering up an expressive bouquet of creamy cassis fruit mingled with cigar wrapper, sweet spices, espresso roast and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, suave and fleshy, with melting tannins and a long, expansive finish, it's in a beautiful place today. 1996 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac has following scores - Decanter 98, The Wine Advocate 97, Wine Spectator 96, Jeannie Cho Lee (formerly Asian Palate) 96, Jeb Dunnuck 96, Jeff Leve The Wine Cellar Insider 96. 1996 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac has the score of 97+ from Robert Parker and the tasting note -The last time I tasted the 1996 Mouton Rothschild (maybe a couple of years ago?), I recall it was a bit broody and closed. This showing was anything but! Deep garnet in color, it sashays out of the glass with lavishly dressed, gregarious crème de cassis, baked blackberries and plum pudding scents plus touches of menthol, fenugreek, star anise and sandalwood with fleeting glimpses at dried rose petals and oolong tea. The full-bodied palate is richly fruited, opulent and oh-so seductive, with bags of youthful black fruit and lovely finely grained tannins, finishing with fantastic freshness and length.