Château Haut-Marbuzet 1999

This wine is an opaque purple with better integrated wood than many young Haut Marbuzets exhibit. The supple-textured, medium to full-bodied 1999 is loaded with jammy black fruits, spicy wood, herbs, and cedar. It is attractive and seductive. It will drink well for a decade.

Very well done. Grapey, with lots of dark chocolate and coffee on the nose. Full-bodied, with lots of fruit and a caressing, velvet-textured finish. Best after 2004. 30,000 cases made.

Ruby-red. Aromas of raspberry, leather, grilled nuts and chocolatey oak. Juicy and firmly built, with lovely vivacity and seductive sweetness. Not as dense as 2000 or 2001, and a bit more evolved for its age, but very sexy wine.

Bright garnet-ruby color. Sweet, oaky bouquet with plum notes, cooked fruit and gentle chocolate touches. On the palate, rum-soaked fruit aromas, vanilla, a robust extract, a little too stern and dry in relation to its potential.

00: Bright garnet-ruby. Sweet, oaky bouquet, plum tones, stewed fruit, gentle chocolate notes. On the palate, rum-soaked fruit aromas, vanilla, chewy extract; comes across a bit too stern and dry for its potential. (16/20). 11: At the estate. The bouquet shows warmth and ripeness, with hints of venison. On the palate, though, for a Saint Estèphe it’s very juicy and supple, quite enjoyable. Nota bene: I drank it in the cellar when it was already 30°C outside.

Animal, herbal, classic bouquet with black berries, blackcurrant, leather, braised venison, smoke and graphite. Firm, powerful, austere palate with fine, slightly sandy tannins, a spicy aromatic profile, and a nicely dry finish. 17/20 Drink through 2025.

Bordeaux-red color. Medium to good intensity. Vibrant. Medium-intensity nose. Notes of coffee and spice. A clean attack, developing with a pleasant mouthfeel and medium density. The fruit is there but is quickly replaced by a strong woody presence on the finish, which is not very pleasant. Will it develop a patina?