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Chateau Leoville Las Cases,
Drink now,
Commonly thought to be the second wine of Léoville-Las Cases, Clos du Marquis is actually a vineyard separate to the main estate, a little further inland adjoining Léoville-Poyferré and Léoville-Barton. However, the wine is made by the team at Las Cases so, if not a second wine, it is certainly a mini-Léoville-Las Cases. The 2000 is now at its peak maturity. The bouquet is warm and mellow, with subtle notes of tobacco and cedar. Its meltingly soft tannins are supported by a suave, velvety texture. The wine should be decanted to separate any sediment, but only just before service; its beguiling maturity has no need of further aeration. Drink now to 2022.
Chateau Montrose,
Ready, but will keep,
Second Growth Ch. Montrose is located in the east of St Estèphe, just north of the hamlet of Marbuzet, on a gravel knoll only 800 metres from the Gironde estuary. The proximity of the estuary ensures a microclimate that protects against frost, and the vines, which lie on deep clay-gravel soils, benefit from a south-easterly aspect.
This is classic St Estèphe from the excellent millennium vintage: floral overtones are complemented by firm blackcurrant fruit and a savoury personality. This ideally needs another few years in bottle (or at least decanting a few hours before drinking) to soften its imposing tannic structure. Full of mineral complexity, this hugely impressive effort has the ability to age for decades.
This is classic St Estèphe from the excellent millennium vintage: floral overtones are complemented by firm blackcurrant fruit and a savoury personality. This ideally needs another few years in bottle (or at least decanting a few hours before drinking) to soften its imposing tannic structure. Full of mineral complexity, this hugely impressive effort has the ability to age for decades.
Ready, but will keep,
A classic effort, the 2000 Haut-Bailly exhibits notes of lead pencil shavings, raspberries, black currants, and loamy soil. Subtle hints of earth and smoke are also present in this medium-bodied, stylish, well-balanced, pure wine that emphasizes restraint and graciousness over power and blockbuster intensity. It has entered its plateau of maturity, where it should remain for another fifteen years.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate, June 2010
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate, June 2010
Chateau Lafite Rothschild,
Ready, but will keep,
Since I gave this wine a perfect score, I suppose some could see this as a downgrade. I found everything still there for a perfect rating, but I was just struck by how tight and backward the wine was. A blend of 93.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot, the wine still has a dark ruby/purple color and an extraordinarily youthful nose of graphite, black currants, sweet, unsmoked cigar tobacco, and flowers.
The wine is rich, medium to full-bodied, but has that ethereal elegance and purity that is always Lafite. I originally predicted that it would first reach maturity in 2011, but I would push that back by 5-7 years now, although it has 50-60 years of life in front of it. Owners of this beauty are probably best advised to forget it for 5 years. Tasted next to a 1996 several days after the 2000 tasting, the 1996, which is a perfect wine, was far closer to full maturity than the 2000.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - Jun 2010
The wine is rich, medium to full-bodied, but has that ethereal elegance and purity that is always Lafite. I originally predicted that it would first reach maturity in 2011, but I would push that back by 5-7 years now, although it has 50-60 years of life in front of it. Owners of this beauty are probably best advised to forget it for 5 years. Tasted next to a 1996 several days after the 2000 tasting, the 1996, which is a perfect wine, was far closer to full maturity than the 2000.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - Jun 2010
Chateau Mouton Rothschild,
Ready, but will keep,
Sumptuous, decadent blackcurrants with warm spicy oak on the nose. Explosive and exotic on the palate with a generous and creamy weight to it. This fantastic wine is even more seductive than Mouton's legendary 1982 and 1986. I get the feeling that more modern vintages may be even greater still.
(Simon Staples - Berrys' Fine Wine Director - Feb 2010)
(Simon Staples - Berrys' Fine Wine Director - Feb 2010)
Chateau Hosanna,
Ready, but will keep,
...this seamless wine is a classic example of purity and symmetry. Combining power with charm and finesse in a deeply textured, rich, elegant, yet authoritatively flavorful style, this is a brilliant effort as well as a compliment to proprietor Christian Moueix. Sadly, there are only 1,500 cases of this fabulous offering. It displays a singular style reminiscent of a hypothetical blend of Cheval Blanc and L'Evangile, the famous St.-Emilion and equally renowned Pomerol situated across from each other. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2020. 96/100 pts. (Robert Parker - Wine Advovcate - Apr-2003)
Chateau Calon Segur,
Ready, but will keep,
Tasted from an ex-château bottle at BI Wine & Spirits Calon-Segur dinner in London. The 2000 Calon Segur is one of those wines that reminds you how great the millennial vintage could be. Now at fifteen years old, it has a brilliant, vivacious red berry nose infused with ash and cigar box aromas. The detail here is a beguiling and it just "sings" Saint Estèphe. The palate is medium-bodied with dense, firm tannin that provide a rigid backbone, but it is swathed in copious tobacco-drenched black fruit and a superb line of acidity. It finishes with a twist of bitter cherry on the finish that completes what is a deeply impressive Calon-Ségur; it might just outclass the 2005. Tasted March 2015.
Neal Martin - 28/10/2016
Neal Martin - 28/10/2016
Chateau Leoville Barton,
Ready, but will keep,
Absolutely spectacular from bottle, but frightfully closed and backward, with massive power and structure, the saturated purple-colored 2000 Leoville Barton is one of the greatest wines ever made at this estate. The wine has smoky, earthy notes intermixed with graphite, camphor, damp earth, jammy cassis, cedar, and a hint of mushroom. Enormous, even monstrous in the mouth, with tremendous extraction, broodingly backward, dense flavors, and copious tannins, this should prove to be one of the longest-lived wines of the vintage and one of the most compelling Leoville Bartons ever made.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate, Apr 2003
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate, Apr 2003
Drink now,
Exotic aromas of dark chocolate mingle with the intense fruit on the nose. This is a wine with fleshy yet firm fruit of great purity and freshness, supported by a substantial backbone that suggests this will be extremely long-lived. An earthy dimension to the fruit provides an extra degree of gravitas and class to the wine. Drinking from 2008-2018.
Chateau Leoville Poyferre,
Ready, but will keep,
The plushest, most ostentatious and dramatic of all the Leovilles in 2000, this wine is already sumptuous, displaying some nuances in its huge nose of vanilla bean, black chocolate, jammy black cherries, cassis, and graphite in a flamboyant style. Opulent, savory, rich, and full-bodied, it is a head-turning, prodigious wine and a complete contrast to the extracted behemoth of Leoville Barton and the backward, classic Leoville Las Cases. The Poyferre’s low acidity, sweet tannin and an already gorgeous mouthfeel make it a wine to drink now as well as over the next 25 or more years.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate, June 2010
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate, June 2010
Chateau Cheval Blanc,
Ready, but will keep,
"Among the young Chevals of the last 25 years, this is the most Port-like I have ever tasted. It represents the essence of this noble vineyard.....Opulent and full-bodied, with a diaphanous quality (each layer peels away to reveal even more nuances), low acidity, sweet tannin, and a 60 second finish, it is unquestionably as profound as the 1990 and 1982. It is the most compelling Cheval Blanc since the mythical 1947 and 1949, but patience is required. Potentially, this is a perfect wine."
Robert Parker - Bordeaux 4th Edition - Feb 2002
Robert Parker - Bordeaux 4th Edition - Feb 2002