1998 Château Brisson Cotes de Castillon. Color starting to lean towards ruby, showing some age. Nose is open, with damp earth, licorice, and plum notes. Medium to full bodied, with ripe dark fruit (plum), good acid and tannin balance, good grip, but a bit woody. Mature, but will hold another 2-5 years. A very nice food wine for roast chicken. 84 pts. 11/24/09
2000 Chateau Thébot Bordeaux. Color still a very youthful bluish/purple, as opaque as a new world Cabernet. Reserved nose, with some dark berry coming through with coaxing. Medium to full bodied. Ripe black fruit, high cocoa dark chocolate, lots of tannin. Over-achieving Bordeaux. Will be interesting to see if the fruit will keep up with the tannins. Try again in 2011, will probably hold 5-10+ years. 88 pts 11/24/09