I am by no means an expert on wines of this stature, but I will say that it was incredible. If you get the cahnce to sample -don't even take a second to think about it! Velvety smooth, perfectly balanced, with a finish that will keep your mind racing. Truly a pleasure. Not sure how its colleages compare, but if ever a bottle was worth the high, high-end bucks this one is.

I enjoyed some aspects of this, a spur of the moment purchase for an afternoon with a friend...However, the barnyard-funk/decomposing asparagus in the bottom of the veg crisper, was disappointing, at best. The wine? Not to be faulted...Where is the problem? According first growths the status and honor they have when a beautiful fruitiness devolves into a bad vegetable compost. So, I follow the experience with a four-digit weekend experiment...Including the Mouton, 4 first growths from acclaimed years all had this rank funk...Never again. A 2004 $7.97 Beringer is light years beyond this in flavor, drinkability, and experience. Call me a Philistine? Call me a Troglodite? Compliments, both.