2003 Château La Mondotte

Deep red. Deep aromas of currant, minerals, leather, smoked meat and sexy oak. Dense, sweet and creamy, with a deep sappy core of red and black berries and rare vibrancy for a 2003. Wonderfully rich, lively fruit coats the entire palate on the back and the chewy tannins are remarkably suave for the vintage. This virtually tastes like it's from another vintage-a testament to its "cold" clay and limestone soil. As I noted last year, proprietor von Neipperg told me that only the property's tiny percentage of young vines lost their leaves in the extreme heat and drought of the summer of 2003.

Impressive ruby-red. High-pitched aromas of blackberry, violet and licorice are distinctly atypical for the vintage. Big, nutty, broad and rich, with superb mouth coverage and uncanny energy for a 2003. Finishes with big tannins that coat the tongue and teeth. According to Neipperg, only the property's tiny percentage of young vines lost their leaves in the extreme heat and drought of the summer of 2003. This was one of my early stars of the vintage last spring, but it may be even better than I originally predicted.