Deep colour. Slightly austere but intense, dark berry fruit aroma. Palate shows a depth of firm, fresh, layered fruit with liquorish and blackcurrant notes. Terroir highlighted with a chalky, minerally finish. Solid and harmonious. Drink 2015-2025. 4 stars. Score: 17.5 Decanter Magazine, Decanter.com
 
Exceptionally deep crimson. Minerals – charcoal? – on the nose. Very, unusually, sweet and rich and round and seductive. A great sweet spread of gentle fruit on the front palate. Not aggressive at all. Quite a feat in 2007! Lively. Real vitality here. Again it finishes a bit suddenly but there is lots of pleasure to be had here. Big and bloody and flattering on the front palate, then it tightens up quite considerably and shows a little bit of astringency and quite marked acidity. More vivacity than many even though in the context of all vintages it’s a little bit dull. Drink 2012-2016 Score: 16.5 Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com
 
This has good concentration for the vintage, with lots of mineral, berry, currant and flowers. I like this a lot. Score: 88-91 James Suckling, WineSpectator.com
 
This has a low pH of 3.35 and is imbued with a ripe, slightly jammy nose with raspberry and plum. The palate is full bodied with good acidity cutting through those thick black fruits. Very primal on the tannic finish, difficult to ascertain at the moment but it certainly has stuffing. Tasted April 2008. Score: 89-91 Neal Martin, eRobertParker.com
 
Bright red-ruby. Black cherry, violet, licorice and minerals on the nose. Sweet on entry, then juicy and firm in the middle, with dense black fruit flavors showing excellent energy for the year. The pH of 3.65 is relatively low for St. Emilion 2007 but high by the standards of this property. Finishes with building, oak-powered tannins and excellent verve for the year. This vineyard was harvested in just four days during the second week of October. Score: 90-92 Stephen Tanzer, Intl. Wine Cellar
 
Score: 92-94 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (176)

Château Pétrus, Pomerol. Immense, deep wine, packed with firm tannins, the tannins and wood in great harmony. This is always an iconic wine, and once again it has shown why it has this status. 96-98 Points; Roger Voss; Wine Enthusiast

A rich, sweet, dark and creamy nose. Real depth here, some purity to it, and a bright fruit character. Rich, plenty of substance, but balanced, firm, grippy and fresh. Deliciously direct style, broad and expressive, with a good style. Pure but deep and characterful with good vigour, this has excellent potential. From my 2007 Bordeaux en primeur assessment. 17-18+/20 (April 2008) The Wine Doctor

A beautiful wine that is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot, tipping the scales at 13% alcohol with a pH of 3.8, the wine has put on some weight since I tasted it last year and possesses broad, expressive notes of caramel, black currant liqueur, fig, and blackberries along with a hint of roasted coffee. Opulent, full-bodied, and concentrated with an exceptionally fleshy, expansive mid-palate, this wine has freshness, vigor, and delineation despite its rather plump, opulent, heady style. More and more this looks similar to the 1982 more than any other recent vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2022. Wine Advocate #158 (Apr 2005)  Robert Parker (93-95) points  Drink 2008-2022
 
Fashioned from low yields of 39 hectoliters per hectare, Pichon-Lalande’s harvest began on September 17, and lasted until the end of the month. A powerful effort for this estate (13% alcohol), with a pH of 3.8, and total acidity of 3.15, this blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot possesses an opaque purple color to the rim as well as lovely aromas of spring flowers, creme de cassis, blackberries, and a hint of roasted espresso. Dense, opulent, and medium to full-bodied, with outstanding purity, and no trace of over-ripeness, it should drink well young, and last for 15-20 years. Although it reveals a more classic style than the 1982 did at a similar stage, its similarities with that vintage are unmistakable. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2020. Wine Advocate #152 (Apr 2004)  Robert Parker (93-95) points  Drink 2008-2020  

Pauillac. An old style Pauillac, yet made with far more purity and richness than the estate's ancient vintages, this broad-shouldered, muscular, classic wine exhibits a saturated purple color, and sensationally dense, rich, concentrated, cassis flavors that roll over the palate with impressive purity and depth. The wine is tannic and closed, but powerful and rich. It appears to possess length and intensity similar to the 1996. This is a great young Pauillac. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2025. The extraordinary effort that Alfred Tesseron is making at this property is reconfirmed with each new tasting note I write on Pontet-Canet. Having recently had the exceptionally impressive 1994 in several tastings, it is a pleasure to see this historic estate turning out wines that behave like super seconds rather than fifth-growths. Drink 2005 - 2025; Wine Advocate # 115; Feb 1998 Robert Parker 92 points

The 1995 Pontet-Canet has shed some of its astringency and now appears to be the qualitative equivalent to the terrific, classic 1994. The fruit is sweeter and jammier, and the new oak more prominent in the 1995. This opaque purple-colored wine is medium to full-bodied, concentrated, layered, and long in the finish. I would not be surprised to see the 1995 edge out the brilliant 1994 in 15-20 years. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2025. Last tasted 1/97; Bordeaux Book, 3rd Edition # B1 Jan 1998 Robert Parker 93 points

Pauillac. A stunning offering is the 2000. An opaque purple color is accompanied by an impressive aromatic display of pure creme de cassis, high quality oak, sweet earth, and smoke. It is a steely, extremely long classic with noticeable tannin as well as fine concentration and power, and a 45-second finish. This broodingly backward, hulking Pontet-Canet will require patience. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2030+. Wine Advocate # 139; Feb 2002 Robert Parker (92-94) points

A spectacular effort from Pontet Canet. The opaque ruby/purple-colored 2000 offers a gorgeously pure, intense bouquet of blackberry liqueur, cassis, smoke, and Asian spices. The Pontet Canet displays a firm, classic feel in the mouth, high tannin, medium to full body, exceptional concentration as well as purity, and a long finish. Bravo! Anticipated maturity: 2007-2030. Wine Advocate # 134; Apr 2001 Robert Parker (92-95) points

Enticing blackberry and licorice character, with a tiny bit of tobacco. Full-bodied, with silky tannins and a serious finish. Best after 2007. James Suckling; 93 Points; The Wine Spectator.

Pauillac. One cannot say enough about the labors of proprietor Alfred Tesseron, who has personally overseen the dramatic increase in quality of the wines at Pontet-Canet which started in a significant manner with 1994. This is a classic Pauillac-styled wine (meaning oodles of cassis flavors), as one might expect from a vineyard on the plateau of Pauillac, across the street from Mouton-Rothschild.

One of the great successes of the vintage and certainly one of the most profound Pontet-Canets made over the last decade is the 2003. Deep purple to the rim with a glorious nose of scorched earth, black currant jam, smoke, licorice, and roasted meats, it is full-bodied, incredibly powerful, dense, with low acidity but high tannin, broad-shouldered, and savory. This is a stunning, pure, classic Pontet-Canet that should be at its best between 2010 and 2035. Wine Advocate #164 (Apr 2006)  Robert Parker 95 points  Drink 2010-2035

Intense deep red, nose still shut in, but shows fine intensity of concentration and very good, plummy middle palate, smoky and quite complex, good length and good in this vintage. Drink 2013-20. Score: 17.5 Decanter Magazine, Decanter.com
 
Quite rich and sweet on the nose. Not very Pauillac-like! Good, firm tannins on the palate. A creditable attempt to spin some interest out of this vintage. But pretty low key. Tannins almost too dominant. Watery finish. But there is no shortage of effort here and the wine should have a longer life than many. Just a bit too like sandpaper in terms of texture. Drink 2013-18 Score: 16.5 Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com
 
Crushed blackberry, currant and light licorice. Full-bodied, with lovely ripe tannins and a long, fruity finish. Balanced and refined. A beauty. Score: 88-91 James Suckling, WineSpectator.com
 
A deep garnet core with pink rim. Like Cos d’Estournel, there is almost a Burgundian sense of fruit intensity on the nose. At first reticent - but give it a few swirls of the glass and a little patience there are aromas of ripe blackberries, a touch of mulberry, damson and a hint of fresh fig. One of the few wines to demonstrate some opulence. The palate is full-bodied, very concentrated with intense blackberries, raspberry, Morello and mouth-coating tannins (almost more than any other wine including the First Growths!) Huge grip and persistency but married with great purity and delineation. This has soft mouthfeel towards the finish, perhaps just lacking the peacock fan of flavours that a great vintage such as 2005 would show, but very long and sensuous with a touch of spice lingering on the exceptionally long aftertaste. A complete wine and a great success for the vintage. Tasted April 2008. Score: 94-96 Neal Martin, eRobertParker.com
 
Good deep ruby-red. Sappy cherry, blackberry, licorice and minerals on the nose, with an almost candied quality rare for the year. Dense, sappy and pure, with enticing sweetness and noteworthy depth to the silky flavors of cassis, chocolate, licorice and minerals. Finishes with sweet, broad tannins and excellent persistence. Score: 90-93 Stephen Tanzer, Intl. Wine Cellar
 
Score: 91-94 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (176)