A killer wine (I’m so sorry I didn’t buy any), the 2003 La Mondotte is clearly one of the superstars of the vintage. An intriguing perfume of licorice, Asian soy, black currant jam, ripe cherries and subtle toast emerges from this extravagantly rich, voluptuously textured, opulent, full-bodied St.-Emilion. Just coming in to full maturity, it is pure, rich and full. Drink it over the next decade or more.

Deep red. Deep aromas of currant, minerals, leather, smoked meat and sexy oak. Dense, sweet and creamy, with a deep sappy core of red and black berries and rare vibrancy for a 2003. Wonderfully rich, lively fruit coats the entire palate on the back and the chewy tannins are remarkably suave for the vintage. This virtually tastes like it's from another vintage-a testament to its "cold" clay and limestone soil. As I noted last year, proprietor von Neipperg told me that only the property's tiny percentage of young vines lost their leaves in the extreme heat and drought of the summer of 2003.

This is BIG! Extremely deep colour, more than 14 degrees alcohol. Gamy at first and piercingly tannic. The spine of this wine (80:20 Merlot:Cabernet Franc), much in evidence, almost has a note of greenness about it. Just a bit too New World for me. St Emilion this ain't! Quite dry tannins on the finish, though it is well made. (JR)