A great sleeper of the vintage, this fully mature wine, made by Helene Garcin, has loads of deep raspberry and black cherry fruit with hints of licorice, toasty oak, and spice box. It is plush, succulent, and hedonistic, yet at the same time complex. I loved their 1998, and this wine seems to have turned out just as well. (RP)

The 2000 Barde Haut is deep garnet colored with a hint of brick. It leaps with warm blackberries, stewed plums, and fruitcake scents, plus wafts of dried herbs and tobacco. Medium-bodied, it is elegant and refreshing with evolved, plush tannins and a long minerally finish. (LPB)

Good medium ruby-red. Explosive nose combines cherry liqueur, woodsmoke, flowers and smoke. Sweet, fat and pliant but juicy and perfumed. Has the inner-mouth aromatic complexity and complete flavor development one would expect from a cool site that benefitted from a very warm growing season and harvest. Very sexy wine, finishing with big, palate-dusting tannins and excellent length. (ST)