This is a Cabernet year in the Medoc. The appellations with high percentages of Cabernet seemed to make the best wines; St. Estephe, Pauillac, and St. Julien. We have focused our selection on these areas. With the 2000 vintage, we offered almost 200 different chateaux, this year we were far more selective, only offering about 25. We are still working on a few other chateaux, but we will not offer them until we have guaranteed our purchases. 2002 is not a "fill your cellar" type year; but rather a buy selectively and "fill in gaps" type year. There are many very good values out there that will provide excellent drinking. The Bordelais reduced prices by about 30% but the decrease in the value of the dollar effectively wiped out the price reduction. I feel the areas that are more evenly blended such as Margaux and Graves suffered because Merlot was not at peak ripeness during harvest. I feel that the chateaux should have changed their assemblage to use more Cabernet in the Grand Vin, saving the Merlot for the 2nd wines, such as Lafite did. In late March, wine professionals travel to Bordeaux to taste the previous years vintage. The object is to taste about 1000 wines in 3 days. Teeth and tongues are stained purple for days. The tasting is rather difficult because the wines have been aged in oak for 3-4 months and then just prior to tasting, they are blended for the final assemblage. All that movement is tough on the wine, I am surprised that a lot of them showed so well.

Our selection of Right Banks is rather limited; this vintage we are offering de Sales. It was easily the 2nd best wine I had from Pomerol, only L'Evangile was better and not by much. It had wonderful balance. I have always found de Sales to make very good wines in difficult vintages and this year is no exception. The reason why it was so good this year is that it has one of the highest percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in Pomerol.

The only other Right Bank wine we are offering is Petrus. Sorry I do not have any tasting notes on the 2002, nor has Parker or Wine Spectator reviewed it yet, but I was overjoyed when I received a small allocation for the vintage. I expect, as usual, this wine will be extremely well made and highly sought after. This is your chance to actually purchase the wine at a reasonable price. When the wine is released, I expect the price to be in the neighborhood of $1000 per bottle.

I had the opportunity to taste Phelan Segur 3 different times during the En Premier tasting. I think it is the steal of the vintage. Balance, complex fruit, and most important great price. Thierry Gardiner spared no expense to make the best wine and it shows. Workers took almost 3 weeks to pick the grapes in order to harvest at the optimum time. This estate has been making excellent wines for the last 10 years luckily the press has not hyped it and inflated the prices. An excellent wine for the money.

My visit to Mouton provided with the overall best array of wine. All the wines were excellent; Mouton Rothschild, Clerc Milon, and D'Armailhac. Mouton has power, grace, and elegance. Clerc Milon was similarly style, just slightly less. The real show stopper was D'Armailhac. It was absolutely wonderful. A perfect balance between the Mouton style and elegance at most importantly at a price that is affordable. I have heard rumblings that many other wine writers liked D'Armailhac more than its more expensive siblings. I would definitely rate it in the 90-95 range, which is highly recommended since it can be purchased for less than $20

Lafite Rothschild is marvelous. I cannot say any more. A perfect balance of fruit, tannin, and acidity. I praise the Chateau for their decision to lower the amount of Merlot in the final blend, less than 10%. Only 47% of the crop will be made into the Grand Vin. This wine is powerful and will last for decades. The wine reminds me of the 1988 vintage. Simply outstanding. It may not get the perfect 100 points like the 2000 vintage, this is still in the 95-100 range and at 1/4 the price.

My biggest surprise during my week in Bordeaux was the tasting of Medoc wines. I really did not expect much because no classified wines were there but what I did find was a lot of very well made, balanced wines. I could easily recommend about 10 of them especially due to their prices. Instead, I decided to focus on the best wine of the tasting, Sociando Mallet. It had great concentration, nice complex aromas, good structure and tannin. It seemed to slightly rustic in the finish, but I liked it. It went well in the wine.

Whenever I talk about these 2 wines, I keep thinking about something that Mde Bize-Leroy said about 2 of her Burgundies; the Richebourg is a prim and proper gentleman, the Romanee St. Vivant, she is a whore. We only purchased only 2 Graves in 2002. There should be no surprise that they are Haut Brion and La Mission Haut Brion. As usual, they are the leaders in the appellation. The Haut Brion, the gentleman, is a huge wine, tons of fruit, deep expansive flavors. The wine has incredible richness and ripeness. It is one of the top 5 wines of the vintage. On a good day, it could be the best. So much power and elegance in one wine should be illegal. Personally, I preferred the La Mission slightly more. I wouldn't say it is better, just more to my style, Then again, I usually always prefer La Mission, it has a dark purple color. It is racy and complex. It is dense, pure with lots of flavors. Either way, you will not go wrong.

Once again, We are offering only 2 wines in this appellation, Chateau Margaux and Chateau Giscours. I cannot say enough about Margaux, it is probably the most consistent 1st growth over the last 20 years. It is in top form once again; elegance, power, & finesse. Beautiful! Giscours seems to be on a hot streak. After a few years of mediocre performance, the last 4-5 years have seen a remarkable turnaround. I think it is on track to become the top chateau after Palmer and Margaux. Still reasonably priced.

The other Pauillac that I selected should come as no surprise, Year in and year out they are the most consistent wines produced in the appellation; Lynch Bages, Pichon Lalande, Pichon Baron, Haut Batailley, and Grand Puy Lacoste and this year is no exception. Pichon Lalande has an amazing 34% Merlot. For a Cabernet Year this is a real success, they are the only chateau on the Medoc who really knows how to vinify Merlot. The fruit is perfectly ripe. The wine is round and supple, fleshy, chewy, silky; everything you expect from the Comtesse. Haut Batailley was very well balanced, lots of body but the tannins to go with it. It has dark color, loads of fruit and a lot os style, a certain "Je ne sai qua". Lynch Bages is massive and very focused. There is no room for elegance or finesse here, just lots of fruit with a little of oak thrown in for good measure. This wine goes right for the Jugular , it grabs hold and does not let go. Grand Puy Lacoste has a long finish, massive tannins, excellent. Great Blueberry and Black Currant nose; dark color, fresh aromas. It is dense, massive with a long finish. Pichon Baron has all the elements; oak, tannins, fruit, finish. The old proverb "Slow and steady wines the race" fits here; Other wines may have single components, but everything is here and in good proportion.

I probably could have included more St. Estephes, the quality was there, but I felt the prices were out of balance. I have already spoke about Phelan Segur. The other 2 chateaux that we are offering should not be surprising; Montrose and Calon Segur. In both cases, good, solid wines, beautiful balance, complexity, and finish. I remember hearing somewhere that a terrible hailstorm tore through Calon Segur and destroyed a large percentage of the crop. I was glad to see that there was no rot in the wine, It actually seemed to reduce the crop size and at the same time inccrease the concentration. It is going to be a very good wine. Montrose comes very close to be 1st Growth quality. Very concentrated with a little spice and tobacco, good amount of alcohol for the long haul, very long finish.

The St.Julien area has the biggest selection this year. The foremost reason is high quality of wine at excellent pricing. Lagrange showed that the great wine produced in 2000 was not a fluke, they once again made an excellent wine, very racy and powerful. Ducru Beaucaillou, which was tasted at the Chateau along with the other wines in the Borie stable, may be the best wine (non 1st Growth) of the vintage. Grace and elegance, but with a powerful, tannic backbone. Leoville Barton is once again in top form. I think it is very Californian in style, lots of fruit but it has an enormously long finish. I reviewed my tasting notes, and all I wrote was "Best wine of the Tasting". Beychevelle is lighter in body as the other wines, but it is well put together, lighter style does not mean less in quality. I think it will be an excellent drink especially for those who can't wait so long. Talbot and Gruaud Larose, Even though they are no longer owned by the Cordier firm, will always be united in my mind. I have to offer them this year, Neither really showed well, but I know these Chateaux to well; The end product will be excellent. I think the problem was that they were blended shortly prior to the tasting. All the basic materials were there, but both were a little disjointed, they will both come together when they settle down. The final wine is Leoville Poyferre, it is always a good buy, this year is no exception. A few bottles always seem to find their way into my cellar every year and this year will not be an exception. I just like their style.