Steve Tanzer's Best

Best Reds
	2003 Chateau Margaux Margaux Bordeaux Blend; Bordeaux;	$499.99
	"Medium red-ruby. Coffee, mocha, exotic woodsmoke and brown spices on the nose. Fat, full and rich, with intriguing curry and cardamom notes. Opulent and voluptuous wine, with a huge middle palate. But surprisingly tight-grained in the mouth considering the evolution of the wine's aromas. Finishes extremely long, with sandy tannins." -- Steve Tanzer (94 points)
	1998 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild Pauillac Bordeaux Blend; Bordeaux;	$499.99
	"Saturated bright ruby. Noble aromas of blackcurrant, cedar, lead pencil, licorice and nutty oak. Very intensely flavored and penetrating, with great class and grip. Impressively concentrated and juicy, but still rather imploded in the middle palate. This showed terrific subtle sweetness as it opened in the glass. Offers quintessential Lafite elegance as well as the strong backbone to support long aging." -- Steve Tanzer (94 points)
	2000 Chateau Leoville Barton Saint Julien Bordeaux Blend; Bordeaux;	$199.99
	" Full medium ruby. Knockout superripe nose combines black cherry, licorice and exotic spices. Compellingly sweet, lush and complete, with harmonious acids giving the wine lovely vinosity and extending the flavors. Finishes with lush, dusty tannins and superb persistence. A great vintage for Leoville-Barton." -- Steve Tanzer (94 points)
	2000 Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron Pauillac Bordeaux Blend; Bordeaux;	$199.99
	" Good full red-ruby. Complex nose combines plum, mocha, minerals, tobacco and burnished oak. A bit tight on entry, then expands and explodes toward the back, showing dense, insinuating flavors of black fruits and licorice. Chewy, sharply delineated Pichon-Baron with excellent underlying backbone and broad, palate-coating tannins. An outstanding vintage for this estate." -- Steve Tanzer (94 points)
	2004 Chateau Latour Pauillac Bordeaux Blend; Bordeaux;	$399.99
	"Ruby-red. Highly complex aromas of dark berries, graphite, licorice, minerals and cola. Lush, dense and sweet, with a wonderfully creamy, opulent mouth feel for the vintage but no impression of excess weight. This boasts superb fruit and palate coverage. Finishes with very suave, spreading tannins and outstanding persistence. An aristocratic expression of ripe cabernet sauvignon." -- Steve Tanzer (93 points)
	2001 Gaja Cabernet Sauvignon Darmagi Langhe Cabernet Sauvignon; Piedmont;	$169.99
	"Bright ruby-red. Warm, rich and inviting aromas of cassis, licorice, minerals, earth, graphite and smoky oak. Sweet, rich, broad and enveloping, with layered, building flavors of black fruits, violet, licorice, dark chocolate, tobacco and minerals. An exceptionally suave, varietally true cabernet from the Piedmont , with a seamless texture and compelling inner-mouth sweetness." -- Steve Tanzer (93 points)
	NV Chambers Rosewood Winery Grand Muscat Rutherglen (half bottle) Muscat; Victoria;	$59.99
	" Medium brown. Exotic, high-toned aromas of orange peel, clove, currant and maple syrup; showing more fruit than the muscadelle. Then silky and pliant in the mid-palate, with compelling sweetness and perfect balancing acidity. This is downright elegant. The Muscadelle suggests a higher percentage of older material, but this is even smoother." -- Steve Tanzer (93 points)
	2001 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild Pauillac Bordeaux Blend; Bordeaux;	$599.99
	" Bright red-ruby. Sexy aromas of raspberry, cedar, coconut, minerals, lead pencil, chocolate and tobacco leaf. Juicy, lively and penetrating, with sharply delineated flavors of blackberry, raspberry and rose petal. Boasts the classic inner-mouth energy of this great first growth, but also grew increasingly silky with extended aeration. Finishes with tongue-coating tannins and superb lift." -- Steve Tanzer (93 points)