2001 Chateau Tertre Roteboeuf, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

The 2001 Tertre-Rôteboeuf has an exquisite bouquet that vies for attention after the 2000. Extremely pure and featuring maraschino cherries, cassis, honey, incense and crushed rose petals, this gains complexity with every swirl of the glass. The palate is silky-smooth with maybe just a little more backbone than the previous vintage, and a touch more depth and harmony. Blacker fruit surfaces toward the finish, completing an absolutely delicious, irresistible 20-year-old Tertre-Rôteboeuf.

Fresh red-ruby. Complex, expressive nose combines black raspberry, roasted currant, licorice, earth, game and white truffle. Sweetly oaky and lush in the mouth, with mellow flavors of plum and game. An utterly singular wine with impressive opulence and palate coverage. Finishes with fine, dusty tannins. Mitjavile uses Radoux barrels to age his wine; the selection is for especially fine grain rather than any particular forest.

Incredible, exotic nose; lifted aromas of blood-orange peel, undergrowth, allspice, pepper, balsamic and violet. Plush and velvety texture, with fine-grained tannins. It's still so lively and vibrant and seems like it could keep ageing for years. What a remarkable wine. (JRL)