Surprisingly lively and fresh, this is still a seriously impressive wine. The high proportion of Semillon is now coming to dominate the Sauvignon, to give a wine that is finely shaped, full of creamy flavors of wood and some white peach. In 10 years, this will still be fresh, in 15 just mature. ROGER VOSS

Drinking at point, the 2002 Château Haut-Brion is a beautifully pure, layered, classic wine from this château. Healthy plum-hued with very little bricking, it has a textbook Haut-Brion nose of ripe black fruit, smoky tobacco, scorched earth, and spices. These all carry to a medium to full-bodied Haut-Brion that's balanced, has ripe, polished tannins, solid mid-palate depth, and a great finish. It's one of the quintessential Graves that grows on you over the course of an evening. I don't see it getting better, yet it clearly has another two decades of prime drinking ahead of it. I'd be happy with bottles in the cellar.

If it is a bit unyielding now, there is a a solid, dense core that suggests that this will have a few more years at least at this level. Merlot dominates the blend at 51% of the total, and the wine is aged in 71% new casks before bottling in June of 2004. Better than expected for a year marked by rain and cool weather during the growing season. Fine weather during the arrière-saison helped finish the ripening, but the wine remains firm and tannic.

As it closes in on age 20, the 2002 Haut-Brion is beginning to drink very well, opening in the glass with aromas of blackcurrants, plums, cigar wrapper, loamy soil, burning embers and violets. Fleshing out considerably with an hour or two in the decanter, it's medium-bodied, vibrant and concentrated, exemplifying the ideal of intensity without weight, with a deep core of fruit framed by powdery tannins and lively acids. An underrated wine that has rewarded patience, the 2002 Haut-Brion confirms that great terroirs over-perform in cooler, more challenging years. - William Kelley

Scented and a little herbaceous. The most middle of the road, difference-splitting wine. Finishes quite dry. But there is admirable fruit on the way there. Neat. Dry. Very brisk. Next night it was more introvert, dry and a bit lean. 17.5/20

Tasted blind at Farr’s 2002 Bordeaux tasting. Very good intensity on the nose with blackberry, black olive, gravel and hot bricks/cedar. Great definition. The full-bodied palate is very dense and sturdy with gripping tannins. Very precise, obviously a lot of craftsmanship, but not as complex as some of the other First Growth ‘02s with autumn leaves fluttering down upon the elegant finish. A lovely wine to drink rather than intellectualize over.