1999 Cuvee Alexandre Cabernet Sauvignon

The dark ruby-colored, tight, and backward 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Cuvee Alexandre has cassis liqueur and kirsch-like aromas. This is a muscular wine with loads of concentration and extraction. It is, at present, firm and tannic, yet should blossom into a glorious, fruit-dominated wine with 3-4 years of cellaring. Projected maturity: 2005-2011. Readers who doubt the potential influence of a wine consultant who only spends a very short time each year visiting his/her clients should bear the following in mind. For this report, hundreds of Chilean wines were tasted, yet only a handful of estates stood out. Casa Lapostolle, where Bordeaux's famed oenologist Michel Rolland spends a couple of weeks a year, is one of the few islands of high quality in a sea of wine dominated by dilution, vapidness, and commercial blandness/mediocrity. Importer: Schieffelin & Somerset, New York, NY; tel. (212) 251-8337.