The Verdict : The 2000 vintage is certainly a success, but with all the hype surrounding the vintage is it being talked up a little too much ? Undoubtedly some chateaux have produced excellent wines which will sit nicely along side '96 and '95 as superb, classic Bordeaux vintages - but the tag of 'Vintage of the century' will have to be earned a little harder than that. I think that Pauillac was the winner overall, despite last minute rain across most of the medoc at harvest time this doesn't seem to have diluted the final product. Interesting wines from the Medoc & Haut Medoc appellations - some great depth & concentration, but have they changed their style to please critics ?? On the right bank a couple of great St Emilions but honours going to the Pomerols with quality across the board.

Great organisation from the Union des Grands Crus again - very well run tasting events across the region. Low points of the tastings were ,again, very irresponsible spitting. Some people really should learn that even though they think they can spit accurately they can't. Please practice at home with real wine in front of your wives who should be wearing expensive clothes - you will be made aware of your ineptitude very quickly. Another small point to bring to peoples attention is that if you're trying to look trendy and interesting, wearing brightly coloured jeans with your blazer is not going to do the trick I'm afraid. Also apologies to Jancis Robinson who I think I nearly ran over in the car park at Angelus.

If we particularly liked the wine then...

Pessac Leognan [return to the top]

Tasting held at Chateau Olivier

Chateau Bouscaut - Built like a brick. Chunky but a bit uneven. Not bad

Chateau Carbonnieux - Difficult. Stark & a little empty. Shame, the mild fruit had trouble getting through, plus the Chateau owner nearly emptied his glass over my head.

Domaine de Chevalier - Nose boded well. Gentle entry, very gratifying violety fruit. Well balanced

Chateau de Fieuzal - Gentle nose. Vanilla entry & nose. Spicy little number, jumped around a bit, pretty good.

Chateau de France - Fairly medium, nice & treacly but a little thin at the finish

Chateau Haut- Bailly - Sorry, quite soft but non descript. Needs a bit of fruit couldnt find any.

Chateau Haut- Bergey - Good Hay & Agricultural nose. Gave way to a warm soft middle. Very 'comfortable' wine.

Chateau La Louviere - Relatively one dimensional. Doesn't mean that it's bad though. Straightforward fruit & medium structure.

Chateau Larrivet- Haut- Brion - Complex , multi layered entry with sweet fruit mixed with darker stronger fruit. Always a good bet & good value.

Chateau Latour-Martillac - Good. Firm all the way through, some nice cherry fruit. Fits the bill.

Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion. Very good. Impressive tobacco nose. Gentle entry and soft to the end. Measured excellence. Something a little different.

Chateau Malartic-Lagraviere - I think it's nice, but have trouble saying much that's totally positive. Inoffensive ? unremarkeable ? Soft & kind though.

Chateau Olivier - No harsh corners atall, huge length, decent fruit. Solid effort.

Chateau Pape Clement - Unmistakeable soft & elegant effort from Pape Clement, but then again a mistakeably similar cherry body & structure to the rest of the Pessacs. Very good though.

Chateau Picque Cailoou - Good straightforward, gentle & soft. Some good even fruit - no aggressivity. V. Good.

Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte - Not the most resounding character - fairly modest nose no huge hints, elegant and not overpowering

Graves [return to the top]

Tasting held at Chateau Olivier

Chateau de Chantegrive - Good extraction, lengthy toasted nose. Very elegant

Chateau Ferrande - Quite plump & 'damsiny'

Chateau Rahoul - dark & brooding but eventually quite mild & even tempered

St Emilion Grand Cru [return to the top]

Tasting held at Chateau Angelus

Chateau Angelus - Big & complex, a load of huge darkfruit accelerated away. Full & strong - not for wimps

Chateau Balestard la Tonnelle - Relatively mild entry, the fruit scrambles past a scratchy tannic middle. Not a disaster, but fairly medium

Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot - Medium bodied style, but dissapointed a little with a backward flavour & structure. Interesting to see if the oak helps as it already seems to taste of grainy wood

Chateau Canon - Vast structure,fairly inaccessible and difficult tannins masked the fruit. mmm.. dont know on this one whether it's awesome or ordinary

Chateau Canon-la-Gaffeliere - Yep, more like it. Some ripe fruit showing through - still heavy tannins though

Chateau Cap de Mourlin - Successful middle but then it starts to bite a little - akward flavours

Chateau Dassault - Lovely lean approach, easy & mild, good medium fruit & tannins - firm at the finish.

Chateau Figeac - Gentle entry, lovely length & complexity - a great drop

Chateau Fonplegade - Very good length, tannins dont kick in till late. Not bad

Clos Fourtet - Gives a strong rousing extremely tannic finish, but till then this was well behaved & then turned yobbish.

Chateau Franc-Mayne - No silky smoothness, some untidyness really. Fruit reticent, tannins difficult

Chateau Grand Mayne - Dried out early, no huge fruity effort

Chateau La Couspaude - Encouraging smoky nose. Good lean fruit early. Held on for a good score

Chateau La Dominique - This is it - not a really distinguished nose BUT a wide, fat, soft entry which was almost minty stayed smooth the whole way. STORMING

Chateau La Gaffeliere - Again, a big fat entry, dried out a little. Not bad though

Chateau La Tour Figeac - Difficult tannins, but at least there are some original fruit flavours

Chateau Larcis Ducasse - Didn;t do much wrong but not striving for concentrated fruit either. OK

Chateau Larmande - Fruity till threequarters way through, then lost the plot. Had thicker fruit than many though.

Chateau Troplong Mondot - Encouraging nose, then light fruits predominate. Quite bouncy wine and there is fruit too.

Pomerol [return to the top]

Tasting held at Chateau La Pointe

Chateau Beauregard - Soft, clean & spicy. Refreshing after some mediocre St Emilions

Chateau Clinet - Not heavy, light & gentle - good fruit, very soft - great

Chateau Gazin - Excellent , great poise & balance. Firm tannins & ripe dark fruit - lasted well, fruit & tannins well knitted

Chateau La Cabanne - Very fat wide entry, pinched fruit, very pleasant

Chateau La Conseillante - Superb entry, big structure meant less pleasing initially, but should turn out to last very well

Chateau La Croix de Gay - PERFECT building wine, started low & flat & built to a belting sharp fruit

Chateau La Pointe - Very mild mannered, even tempered & great

Chateau L'Evangile - Very smooth, extra chewy fruit, bigger middle than most and probably not as long

Chateau Petit Village - Well ordered & well put together - probably with a bit more staying power than most of the Pomerols

Moulis - en - Medoc [return to the top]

Held at Chateau Fonread

Chateau Chasse Spleen - Bit of spice ! Dark, concentrated, throat grabbing - watch out !

Chateau Maucaillou - Scarily Harmonious for such a young wine, light not dull, very smooth but something sticks in the back of my throat

Chateau Poujeaux - Exquisite. So much cherry fruit, best Poujeaux ever tasted, very long & sweet. Not huge but a belter.

Listrac - Medoc [return to the top]

Chateau Clarke - meaty nose, harmonious - nearly dry but that makes the complexity stand out

Chateau Fonread - nice sweet & succulent. Holds its head nicely considering some of the company

Chateau Fourcas-Dupre - Mushroom / vegetal nose. Gets better with some OK fruit. Still a little thin

Chateau Fourcas-Hosten - No nose, watery mmm.. could be better

Haut-Medoc [return to the top]

Chateau Beaumont- Static nose, static taste. Nothing wrong with it just boring

Chateau Belgrave - nice juicy entry, a good amount of fruit, nicely done but that's it

Chateau Camensac - Impressivley dark - could be huge, not totally sure, or could be a little spiky, give it the benefit.

Chateau Cantemerle - Beautiful - strange nose but developed into a very sweet juicy numbers

Chateau Citran - Good juicy, less gentle than some. Still v good. Too obvious ??

Chateau Coufran - Violetish tasting, quite forward, not awesome but pretty good

Chateau de Lamarque - Very different, good tobacco & chocolate combo. Sounds like b-ll-cks but it does

Chateau La Lagune - Lovely gentle embracing & sweet. Very good standard

Chateau La Tour Carnet - OK, starts halfway up the fruit curve - bit too inky

Chateau Malescasse - Huge length. Started from nothing ended up getting livlier with sweet summer fruit. Great

Medoc [return to the top]

Chateau Greysac - Staggering quality, although is this just for the critics ? Gentle early, good fruit, no harshness

Chateau La Tour de By - Harsher version of the Greysac - good harmonious fruit, well balanced but a little untidy

Margaux [return to the top]

Chateau Brane-Cantenac - Strong voluptuous flavours, a little spiky, even throughout - not overly smooth

Chateau Cantenac Brown - Not the clearest nose, musty. Quite big blocks of fruit. Not smooth but good fruit. Indelicate but biggish

Chateau d'Angludet - Non descript nose, reasonale gentle fruit, finishes with a little harshness

Chateau Dauzac - Good , pleasingly fragrant 'nez' gentle, sweet graceful. Very nice thankyou

Chateau Dufort Vivens - Light plummy & gentle flavours, non descript middle. A bit weedy, ever mind

Chateau Ferriere - Not a bad effort quite thin but doesnt detract too much.

Chateau Giscours - Very good, toned up & quite beefy. Lots of round fruit -no loose tannic structure

Chateau Kirwan - Striking violet. Blackcurrant licorice. Great fullness good power. Lovely big Margaux

Chateau Labergorce - Didn't grab me - lacklustre - medium everything

Chateau Lascombes - Slightly nasty at the end - a little too 'stewed' . Some may find this v. appealing but ant intrinsic phobia of cooked fruit scared the taster

Chateau Malescot Saint-Exupery - Dour looking with an earthy smell. Expecting a disaster but pulled through well with very good even tempered middle

Chateau Marquis de Terme - Toffee nose, great all the way through with belting concentration at the end. Full & excellent.

Chateau Monbrison - Complex pear nose. Delicate & fine, very interesting. No real power but that's the beauty

Chateau Prieure-Lichine - Ominously dark. Great toffee nose, superb strength & balance. Top marks, lasted hours - the dogs

Chateau Rauzan Gassies - Impressively dark colour- didnt live up to much. Fairly even blackcurrant. No fireworks

Chateau Rauzan Segla - Didnt get this- shame. Interesting perked up after a slow minty entry. Finished off with apple pies.

Chateau Siran - Violent looking pink. Expecting sledgehammers, got pansies. Not a disaser though.

Saint - Julien [return to the top]

Held at Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse

Chateau Beychevelle - Plenty of firm structure, although it ended a little stewey. Firm & less soft than usual

Chateau Branaire - Full bodied and structured, nevertheless well balanced - built to last ?

Chateau Gruaud Larose - Interesting fullness with a vacant charm - no nutter big flavours - understated mild tannins

Chateau Lagrange - This has a smooth start, structured finish, mild berries. A good effort.

Chateau Langoa Barton - Big, wholesome & chunky although not neccessarily finesse. It's gone for some backbone with some light fruit

Chateau Leoville Barton - Great, something perfectly balanced. Good mild tannins, strong fruit, plenty of bite

Chateau Leoville Poyferre - Hard to fathom, finished a little stalky but otherwiseeasy & pleasant...dont know

Chateau Talbot - Had to wait ages for anything to arrive - fairly long tannic middle then toffee flavours eventually came through. OK

Pauillac [return to the top]

Held at Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse

Chateau Croizet Bages - Full & plummy, something with plenty of fruit. Good structure

Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse - Lovely sweet entry, lasted well but fell apart a bit at the end. Not bad effort

Chateau Haut-Bages Liberal - Licorice entry, very pleasing

Chateau Lynch-Bages - Excellent, as predicted plenty of bold fruit, great structure, no flabby bits

Chateau Lynch-Moussas - Quite good actually, pleasing lighter in style to many other Pauillacs. Good fruit too

Chateau Pichon-Longueville - Nothing wrong with this wine. Big, very soft & full. Immediately strikingly mellow - no aggressive tannins. A marvel, STORMING

Chateau Pontet Canet - Interesting smoothish, good fruit - a little choked at the finale

Saint - Estephe [return to the top]

Chateau Cos Labory - Needed a lot of encouragement for the fruit to show. Firm & austere but not nasty

Chateau Lafon-Rochet - Beautiful fruit masked by extensive tannins, question is which will win the day. Give it a while should be great

Chateau Les Ormes de Pez - Delicately fruited, bags of structure. V Interesting blend

Chateau Phelan Segur - Delicately made, akin to the Pauillacs, best of the St Estephes,Cool minty entry, gentle even fruit with no aggressivity, lasts well and soft all the way through