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International Wine Cellar
Author: Stephen Tanzer
Issue: Issue 126
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($250; 15.9% alcohol) Full red-ruby. Superripe aromas of plum, mocha, tobacco, caramel and truffle, with a hint of roasted fruits. Thick and voluptuous, with superconcentrated flavors of plum, truffle and mocha. This offers rare sweetness and opulence with just enough mid-palate energy to maintain its shape. Finishes with very suave, lush tannins and lingering notes of caramel and mocha. This one is just this side of too much, with aromas that began almost oxidative, and yet the wine became fresher with extended time in the recorked bottle without any loss of sweetness. A rather extreme vintage in the context of Hundred Acre, but a wine of extravagant breadth and richness.
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Wine Advocate
Author: Robert Parker
Issue: 201
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When I first tasted the 2003, I thought it may be better than the 2002 and 2001. One of the top wines of the vintage, it tastes much younger than the 2002, displaying lots of tannin along with hints of melted chocolate, licorice, cedarwood, lead pencil shavings, toffee, blackberries and cassis. It exhibits great fruit and a full-bodied finish, but also some tannins in the finish. Give it another 5-6 years of cellaring, or, if you want to drink it now, decant it for 4-6 hours in advance.
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Wine Spectator
Author: James Laube
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Bold, ripe and expressive, with tiers of currant, blackberry, espresso and toasty oak that are exceptionally well done in this style. Superripe, verging on Porty. Some will find the flavors too ripe and that the heat on the finish pushes the tannins. 1,100 cases made.
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