Just a few tasting notes - Clearly I am not much of a fan of the 02 (hey it was $40 bucks when I bought it) at least in comparison to the others. I kind of the think the 00 may have had a bit of cork taint, the 03 is ready to go, and the 05 either needs a bit more time in the cellar or if you must, give it a bit of air. It is always fun to compare your notes with the same vintage - sometimes the bottles are a little better and sometimes a bit off.
PB 2000
Decanted for about an hour. Delicate nose of blackberries and tobacco. Very silky wine but the fruit although present seemed to be fading. I didn’t pick up any TCA but it just seemed a bit dead. Not the least bit hot and a pleasant long finish. I may have to do this with a couple of other 2000’s just to get an idea if it really is fading or just a slightly off bottle.
PB 2002 – two different bottles.
14 years since my last taste. Consistent with my last notes this wine has improved a couple of points and merits a 90. Very balanced with silky tannins but just lacking full phenolic ripeness. Great elegant nose and lots of tart dark cherry and blackberries on the palate. Lingering tannins. I can’t see this getting better with time - Probably won’t fade any time soon but still I would drink now since I don’t anticipate it will improve with time.
This is a very balanced wine - tremendous nose - black fruits - a bit of truffle and cigar box. Mellow refined tannins that are medium and a very tart dark cherry. A bit of a vegetal note. Good effort for a very mediocre vintage.
PB 2003 – two different bottles
Dark garnet with a bit of cedar and tobacco on the nose. Dark blackberry fruit with beautiful mouth drying tannins that are very smooth but not sweet. Very long finish. I think this is in its prime - drink or hold.
Black currant (cassis), blackberry and lead pencil on the nose. Follows through on the palate with blackberry, blueberry, espresso, oak and bell pepper. Full bodied - this is a very polished and a beautiful Bordeaux. For the pundits who are afraid of hot ripe vintages I would say that this wine doesn’t seem like a jammy California or Australian wine - just really good Bordeaux.
PB 2005
After a sublime 2003 PB last night I thought I would follow up with an 05. This is inky purple - the light barely shines through it. Super concentrated with some Lead pencil, dark fruits blackberries and cassis. A bit of tart finish that the 03 didn’t have with a bit of spice and pepper. The tannins linger forever. I have some magnums of this that need another at least another 10 years I suspect. I recommend hold for now. This did improve markedly in the glass so I would suggest a decant instead of pop and pour.