This is a mouthful, with loads of fruit and truffle character. Exotic and wild, but starting to close. Give this five years.

Deep garnet-brick colored, the 2003 Pontet-Canet bursts with crème de cassis, blueberry compote, and licorice notes, followed by hints of graphite, lavender, cardamom, and tobacco. The medium-bodied reveals a wine of...

This gorgeous, fully mature, complex Pape Clement exhibits notes of smoky tobacco, earth, loamy soil, forest floor, black cherries, plums and cassis. Medium to full-bodied, fresh and lively, the acids have fallen away and...

A spectacular wine, and one that could have been bought for a song when it was released, this blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot was cropped at 33 hectoliters per hectare. Strutting all of its nobility...

This is plush, dark-fruited and tarry. It’s precise, without any overripeness or obvious sweetness. Generous, with a full-bodied palate and structured, fine-grained tannins. Giving, flavorful and exuberant, but in a...

Gorgeous stuff and certainly one of the gems in the vintage, the 2003 Château Léoville Poyferré reveals a healthy ruby/plum hue with no signs of bricking. Ripe currants, sappy tobacco, cedar pencil, and minty herbs all...

Clearly, drinking in its sweet spot, this medium-bodied wine is all about its silky, supple, rich textures that deliver its layers of opulent, ripe plums, tobacco leaf, spicy cherries, and a touch of dark chocolate and...

(95-97 points) Restrained power combine with great style and elegance in this beautiful wine. The tannins are certainly solid and serious, but then they are also sweet, dusty ripe, sustaining dense dark plum flavors and...

he 2003 Trotanoy has a medium to deep garnet-brick color. It features evolved notes of preserved plums, fruit cake, and fig paste, leading to hints of unsmoked cigars and Chinese five spice. The medium-bodied palate...

So rich and powerful with so much dried apricots and citrus aromas and flavors. Caramel and toffee. Full and very sweet. Amazing.

This was an amazing performance for Monbousquet. The 2003 exhibits plenty of fat and succulence along with a full-bodied, sexy mouthfeel, and lots of black cherry and black currant fruit intermixed with licorice, baking...

Medium-deep red. Very ripe aromas of red plum, smoked meat, leather and grilled nuts. Lush and concentrated but not heavy; superripe notes of redcurrant syrup, tobacco, smoke, meat and truffle. Offers a fine-grained...

Bright aromas of apple lemon and pie tart. Full-bodied with a waxy texture and a rich fruity finish. A solid wine. Best after 2008. -JS