Big sweet nose of dried red berries, tobacco leaf, and leather. Palate was smooth, with fine prominent tannins on the back end, but showing dried fruits and touch of cedar spice and leaving with a little tartness. Finish a little shorter than I would expect given the nose and palate, still showing some prominent dry tannins, and a little coffee. Very good, though expected a little more.

Popped and poured. Nose is bigger than the palate, but a fantastic expression of bell pepper (not too much) spice, and floral notes. Palate has fine tannins, is lightly concentrated showing a dried red fruit profile. Finish a little short and simple, but pleasant and refreshing with some pepper and stone. A really nice bdx that is well made and drinking well at the moment. Held it’s own very well again much bigger names.

Popped and poured and followed over several hours. Light browning on the edges. Exotic expressive nose that was slightly herbal with the faintest hint of bell pepper, leather, flint, currants and spice. A little more subdued than the ’90. Palate still slightly austere and tight, though did need to dry out some after a few hours in the glass showing fine prominent but very polished tannins. Lengthy if somewhat simple finish, with dried flowers, stone, tobacco leaf, and earth. Seemed to be on a trajectory to be the ’90 someday. Very elegant and subtle, without the concentration of the Pavie's. 93-94

Popped and poured. Toasted oak nose with ripe plum underneath. Palate was of medium concentration, plums and black currants, with some coarse tannincs and toast and espresso. Finish a little short, showing it's oak notes again. Good depth of fruit, though overshadowed by the oak treatment. Needed to re-visit later in the tasting but ran out of time(and palate). Hold a few years to let the oak integrate and I think it'll improve quite a bit as it has the fruit to match.

Almost black in color Splash decanted and re-tasted over a couple hours. Nose a little shy, occasionally showing big black currant notes, other dark berries, and strong toast. Palate was incredible extracted, concentrated, and showing prominent dry wood tannins almost verging on hardness. Showing strong roasted coffee/toasty oak notes though the palate and finish where the Italian coffee notes and dry tannins overshadow the fruit. Might be a little over extracted and over oaked, but seems to have the fruit concentration to come into balance as the structure integrates into the fruit--and plenty of acidity to be optimistic. Not especially enjoyable now, come back in 10yrs. Score is for today. 90-91.

Decanted 3hrs prior. My favorite’s of the Pavie’s. Very dark extracted color (slightly less dark than the Pavie). Flamboyant creamy nose with cedar spice, dark berries, licorice, and boysenberry. Palate is very concentrated and very tannic, with fresh black currants and plum along with cedar spice. Fresher and less roasted/toasty than the Pavie, with the dark fruit showing through the structure. Lengthy finish with a little coffee and cedar spice added to the currants and a little stone getting through. Still very young, slightly monolithic, and reasonably enjoyable now if you can deal with the tannins. Towards the modern style.

Decanted a few hours prior. Interesting expressive nose of barnyard, leather, mature fruit(dried? Raisin?). Palate was rather smooth and round, with some fine polished tannins but largely in the background and a dry tannins finish that was a little clipped and showing some leather. Not as concentrated at the other Pavie’s, but more open and accessible now. Still tannic and needs food or more bottle age. The odd nose does make me question is this is a representative bottle, but no obvious flaw.

Splash decanted. Very dark in the glass. Nose very toasted, with roasted Italian slightly burnt coffee with a little plum mixed in. Palate very concentrated and ripe, with dark fruit with a slightly liquor-like quality, again slowing lots of oak influence and prominent tannins. Dry oak tannin on the finish along with black currants. Seemed a little out of balance and over extracted. No change several hours in. Revisit in 5+ years. Did seem to have the fruit to integrate the oak. Quite modern style. And reminiscent of Pavie (though lacking the polish and acidity)

Splash decanted with the cork breaking and falling into the bottle. Expressive nose, rather floral, with bright cherry and licorice and hints of tobacco leaf. Fine, polished tannin structure and prominent acidity, still a little tight, but fresh red fruits on the palate good depth and coating the palate. Finishes with moderate length and dried red fruits and repeating tobacco leaf element. Just a little tight and not as much depth as I would expect for an ’00, otherwise, a very nicely built wine that still needs another 3-5yrs.

A consistent performer, as I am always impressed given the price. Plummy ripe purple nose with some dark berries and cedar. Palate showing fresh purple fruit with plums and currants, coarse tannins and a lengthy finish of fresh ground coffee, and cedar. Pure and fruit driven, with good concentration and freshness. Very enjoyable, should soften and improve. 92-93.

Decanted 3hrs prior. My second underwhelming experience with this producer. Creamy, plush nose with cassis and plum. Palate showing some finely polished prominent tannins, moderate concentration of red fruits and touch of creamy vanilla oak. Finishes rather dry and one dimensional. Seemingly better than the ’04, but underperforms for the price--though this bottle seemed rather closed.

Hint of cork on the nose but seemed to blow off with time, otherwise pure dark fruit nose of plums and currants. Fine soft tannins on the palate, with low acidity mouth coating dark fruit of moderate depth. Lengthy coffee finish. Big and extracted and slightly "heavy", though not as much depth as I would expect. Fruit has a slight liquor-like character. I was expecting a little more given the pedigree. 90-91

Popped and poured and ready to go from the beginning. Flamboyant huge exotic nose of olive, green herbal funk, coffee and mature fruit. Palate was spicy, with dried fruit, bell pepper, with polished fine tannins. Lengthy finish with leafy herbs and tobacco leaf with a little earth. Wow, great wine, seemingly at peak, unlike any other producer I've had from the right bank(I think it's the Cab franc). The '98 seems to be heading this way--I hope so as I have a few bottles.