way over its peak; aromas of dirt and mud; very pungent noise; bitter aftertaste; very dark golden color; no fruit; would have been interesting to taste this 3-4 years ago; 80 points at best now;

I haven't had this wine, but I'm surprised that this would have faded that much this quickly only because 1996 was such a good year. Any known storage issues?

Duke,

I'm not sure. They had a number of bottles opened. I tried the wine from different bottles to get a sense of bottle variation and storage. They all tasted the same. From what I understand, Burgundy Wine Company is quite reputable and has excellent storage.

Actually, one of the reps mentioned to me that he had tried it two years ago, and even then, it seemed to be going down hill.

So, you can imagine what it tasted like last night.

Doc

If this was struggling two years ago then I would suspect that either the container it was shipped to the U.S. in got very hot for an extended period or the wine was just poorly made to begin with. Possibly over-racked, barrels not topped up, etc.