2002 Château Haut-Marbuzet

Good medium red. High-pitched aromas of black cherry, raspberry, black olive, fresh herbs, smoked meat and minerals. Juicy but slightly tart-edged, with moderate flesh and stuffing to buffer the brisk acidity. A bit austere today, and in need of seven or eight years of cellaring. The 2004 will be better than the 2002 for the first ten years, opines Duboscq, but who knows what will happen after that?

An attractive, soft, relatively seductive style of wine, this light to medium-bodied, fully mature Haut-Marbuzet shows notes of cedar wood, spice box, earth, and licorice. The wine has some sweet cherries, medium body, and not much length, but is superficially charming.

Good red-ruby. Nose dominated by sexy, smoky oak and espresso. Suave on entry, then stylish in the middle, with notes of game, coffee, tobacco, minerals, spice cake, black olive and oak. Clearly less dense and sweet than the 2003, and showing more obvious acidity. Finishes dry but supple, with smooth tannins, a hint of tar and very good length. I underestimated this wine a year ago. (The classic, fine-grained 2001 rated the same 91 points it did last year just after the bottling.)