100% Merlot

Robert Parker: 98, Neal Martin: 94+, James Suckling: 98

Robert Parker: Think of this wine as the 1998 on steroids! Showing better out of bottle than it did from barrel, this wine has put on considerable weight. It is full-bodied, masculine (as most vintages of Trotanoy tend to be), with loads of earthy, foresty notes intermixed with black and red fruits, a meaty, almost charcuterie note to it, an inky/purple color, some sweetness on the attack, but then the tannins kick in, making the wine seem at least a decade away from accessibility to most consumers. The texture is layered, the purity impressive, and the overall symmetry, balance and integration of all of the wine's building blocks are flawless. Forget it for 10 years and drink it over the following 35 years. Bravo!