2003 Lamothe de Haux [Rouge]: A little soft & flabby on the palate, but wow - what a gorgeous nose of cigar box & pencil lead.
Call it maybe 87-88 points on the palate, 95-97 points on the nose, total about 92 points.
Certainly the best nose I’ve encountered on a red wine in, like, forever - and it seemed to be much more advanced than what I’d expect at roughly the five year mark.
It looks like Haux is way upstream and a little inland, in Entre Deux Meres.
Lamothe de Haux website is here.
Unfortunately, I’m seeing only one USA listing on Wine-Searcher Pro, at $17.99 [which, quite frankly, would strike me as a “back up the truck” price for most red wine drinkers - with the proviso that I’m mostly a white wine drinker myself].
Served by the glass at a very pleasant [if pricey] little bistro in Durham, NC, called Vin Rouge.
Don’t know how this bottle made its way to North Carolina.