Tasted blind at Southwold ’06 Bordeaux tasting. This has a beautiful, lifted nose with stunning definition and purity, a lot of vanillary new oak, very modern in style, but quite sensuous and voluptuous. Cassis, blueberry jam and a touch of orange sorbet. The palate is rounded on the entry, touches of roasted herbs inflected the succulent, gamey black fruit with racy acidity on the elegant, harmonious finish. Very polished. This is a sumptuous, gorgeous Saint Emilion that is surpassing my initial optimism.

François Mitjavile’s 2006 Tertre Rôteboeuf is an absolute joy to taste. Generally speaking, I am not a huge fan of the 2006s because so many wines are gamy, rustic and rough around the edges. There are no such issues here. Wonderfully perfumed, with striking inner sweetness and layers of fruit, the 2006 Tertre Rôteboeuf is exceptionally vivid from the very first taste. The 2006 remains quite fresh for its age and is only just beginning to show signs of arriving at its first plateau of maturity in its aromatics. On the palate, though, the wine is still quite deep and almost shockingly concentrated. Opulent dark fruit, grilled herb and chocolate flavors all flesh out effortlessly. A sheen of new French oak brings it all together and gives the wine its distinctive feel. All of the signatures of François Mitjavile’s quirky, personal style come through in this deeply expressive, hauntingly beautiful Saint-Émilion. In a word: superb!

Good deep red. Exotic black raspberry, bitter chocolate and violet on the nose. Lush but juicy on the palate, with a downright suave texture in the middle and a distinctly firmer finish featuring serious but essentially supple tannins and excellent length. This is beginning to get some tertiary aromas even before the bottling, notes Mitjavile, who did not plan to bottle it until August. "Some people confuse this with old-wine aromas," he said, "but my wines never close up in bottle."

Dark red. Exotic dark raspberry, chocolate liqueur and smoky oak on the nose and palate. Lush, sweet and slightly decadent but not especially exotic for this wine. Round, sexy and plump but with no excess weight. In fact, this is rather suave and smooth, with good inner-palate energy. Finishes with supple, broad tannins and sneaky length. Not quite as creamy or intense as it appeared to be from barrel, but this should give pleasure over the next 10 or 12 years.

After the prodigious 2005, this is a so-so effort from proprietor Francois Mitjavile. A medium dark ruby color is accompanied by scents of dusty, earthy, sweet and sour cherries. The wine hits the palate with a medium-bodied mouthfeel, but hard tannins appear in the narrow, austere, disjointed finish. With aeration, some chocolate and herb characteristics make an appearance, but the wine’s structure dominates. I suspect it will dry out within a decade.

Tasted blind. Looks very mature. Attractive freshness on the nose. Round and rather gorgeous . Throbs underneath with very round fruit. Just slightly too ripe perhaps but there is some real drive here.