Dark ruby-colored, the Pommard Les Chanlins boasts a lively nose of roses, sweet black cherries, and traces of underbrush. Its full-bodied personality is chewy-textured, mineral and blackberry-laced and somewhat backward for a 1996. This intensely concentrated and well-balanced wine may merit a higher rating when it reaches its peak between 2002 and 2005. The score, on a range and in parentheses, indicates that the wine was tasted from barrel.Vincent Girardin's 1996s are generally fresher and more supple than his 1995s, but are not as concentrated or structured. Since he personally prefers softer styled wines, Girardin prefers the 1996 vintage. My feeling is that many of his 1995s will develop better over time than these delicious mid-term drinking wine.Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel (205) 980-8802