(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 only a hint of wood. ROGER VOSS

An intense opulent nose with notes of ripe fruits and meat. An exotic and decadent wine it boasts a full body with big velvety tannins and loads of complexity. Layers and layers of flavors. Let this sit until 2015. Find the wine.

Complex aromas of black licorice tobacco and cedar with red fruits. Full-bodied with superseductive silky tannins loads of fruit and a finish that lasts for minutes. A beauty in all the sense of the word. Best after 2012. 10000 cases made. (JS)

Even better, and clearly the best wine made in the Haut-Brion stable in 2003 (the last vintage of the great Jean-Bernard Delmas as administrator), the 2003 Haut-Brion is a blend of 58% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc that hit 13% natural alcohol, which seemed high at the time, but given more recent vintages is modest. Dark ruby/plum in color, with no amber or orange at the edge, the wine exhibits an abundance of roasted herbs, hot rocks, black currants, plum, and balsamic notes. Quite rich, medium to full-bodied and more complete, with sweeter tannins than La Mission Haut-Brion, this full-bodied Haut-Brion has hit full maturity, where it should stay for at least a decade. Bravo! - Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Like many wines from Pessac Leognan in 2003, this has developed at a rapid pace. You can see it in the color, note it in the perfume and feel it on the palate. There is complexity, but the fruit is slowly starting to fade before its time. This should be drunk up before the wine hits 20 years of age, if not a few years sooner. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/search-wine-tasting-notes/?szSearch=2003+Haut+Brion

This has the deep stoniness of Haut-Brion but it's hard to recognize through all the sweet fruit. Initially that sweet ripeness puts it in line with Napa Valley cabernets tasting sleek firm and intense. The tannins become more prominent with air making the wine feel huge and muscular gripping all the flavor and closing it down. Rather than freshness this offers robust mineral flavor and strength of tannin to carry it into maturity.