Extremely ripe yet still fresh aromas of plum jam, mocha, underbrush and wood spice lead to full-bodied, intense and completely mouth coating flavors and the level of dry extract here is exceptional. This is certainly less elegant than it usually is but it's also more concentrated with dense but fine tannins and huge length. This isn't really my style but it is undeniably a dramatic, powerful and high caliber effort.

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($210; 14% alcohol) Full ruby-red. Vibrant, highly perfumed aromas of blackberry, black raspberry and coffee leap out of the glass. Offers the confectionery sweetness of the best 2003s while retaining shape, aromatic complexity and freshness. A superconcentrated, palate-saturating grand cru that expands impressively on the back half, finishing sweet and very long, with no impression of hardness.

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