2005 Clos St Julien

Good ruby-red. Very fresh, primary aromas of crushed black cherry, chocolate liqueur, minerals and mint, plus a note of smoked meat. Juicy, spicy and light on its feet, showing little sign of its 14.7% alcohol thanks to harmonious acidity and enlivening notes of flowers and minerals. The rich plum and cherry flavors linger impressively on the sweet, firmly tannic finish. This very young and sharply delineated wine should repay seven or eight years of aging. I'd love to slip this into a blind tasting of collectible Napa cabernets. It might well dominate based on its superior inner-palate energy.

Medium ruby-red. Complex nose combines plum, raspberry, coffee, chocolate, smoked meat and exotic oak. Creamy, lush and pliant, with very ripe, suave flavors of plum, redcurrant, tobacco, mocha and nutty oak expanding impressively in the mouth. Finishes with building tannins and lingering red fruits.

(a 50/50 blend of 40-year-old cabernet franc and 80-year-old merlot; from a vineyard on the limestone plateau at the top of the village of St. Emilion; 14.8% alcohol) Full ruby-red. Highly expressive nose offers cassis, cherry, licorice, flowers, smoke and tobacco leaf, all sweetened by sexy oak. Then quite suave and floral, with very ripe flavors that are more red and less black than most 2005 St. Emilions. Gives a chewy, pulpy impression, with the creaminess buffering the wine's 14.8% alcohol. Finishes long and ripely tannic, with licorice and bitter chocolate notes. A fascinating wine, already showing a lot of incipient complexity.