Didn't start out well as the top half of the long cork came apart and just dissolved into lots of little pieces, leaving the bottom half firmly in the neck of the bottle. I used a short, sharp knife to pry out the bottom half, little bit by little bit.
Of course, once I got out the rest of the cork, the wine in the bottle was just covered in little cork pieces. Used a decanting funnel with a straining mesh to decant it.
In the end, I am glad that I perservered.
Very dark red color, quite impressive in a wine 17 years old.
The nose was quite closed at first, but opened up quickly and wonderfully: initially revealing lots of earth and leather, then showing some black cherry, wood smoke and black olives and then, finally, settling for fairly rich and spicy cherry fruit.
The wine itself followed a very similar path: showing lots of earth and leather at first, drying, fairly lean structure, violets and cherry and raspberry fruit. With time, the wine opened up quite a bit, showing tarry and black licorice notes, somewhat sweet cherry fruit and gaining some heft and becoming rather soft and smooth.
The finish was also quite interesting. Again, leather and smoke were initially dominant, but then the finish became very drying. What was particularly noteworthy is the fact that about 30 to 45 seconds after, the finish sort of came back, with just a hint of spicy cherry. Amazing.
A delicious wine and a fascinating experience to witness it change throughout the course of the evening.
"Back in the day" I purchased quite a few Dunn Napa wines, from several vintages, mainly late 1980s and very early 1990s. I am now reaping the very rich benefits of that decision.