France

100 Points! Just a powerhouse of a wine that does everything right, the 2000 Château Pavie is drinking incredibly well today, offering huge blackcurrant and chocolatey darker berry fruits as well as loads of truffly earth, tobacco, and spice. Full-bodied, deep, and concentrated on the palate, it stays flawlessly balanced, and while I suspect the acidity is quite low, it has an incredible sense of freshness and a weightless texture. Fully mature, yet in the early part of its drink window, it has another two decades or prime drinking ahead of it. - Jeb Dunnuck, 2020

100 Points! Just beginning to come around and strut its enormous potential, this wine at age 15 has been evolving like a glacier. The wine has an inky, opaque, plum/purple color and a stunningly rich nose of mulberries, bramble berries, blackberries, licorice and incense as well as touches of toast and graphite. Fabulously concentrated and full-bodied, with a multidimensional mouthfeel, this profound Pavie is in mid-adolescence. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com 2015

100 Points! Medium garnet-brick in color, the 2000 Pavie needs a little swirl to coax out fragrant notes of dried roses, cinnamon stick, red loam, and fallen leaves leading to a core of kirsch, plum preserves, and blueberry compote plus a hint of cardamom. The medium to full-bodied palate is an exercise in grace and suppleness, featuring exquisitely ripe, silky tannins and seamless freshness to frame the achingly perfumed fruit, finishing so, so long and so, so fragrant. This was the first vintage using the "Eleanor" bottle shape that Pavie is well-known for today. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, 2023

92 Points! This is very perfumed, with mushrooms, berries, and even strawberries. Full and round on the palate with soft tannins and lovely sweet finish. This is very long and balanced, but still needs time. Just starting to open up now, but give it a couple of years. - JamesSuckling.com, 2011

97 Points! Dense ruby in colour, slight bricking around the edges. Beautifully supple tannins, hints of black truffle, cocoa dusting. Signature Figeac finesse. Bright and vivid, feels like the slow-moving 2000 is now beginning to rival the legendary 2001 Figeac, and reaching that point where you can't decide if you want to slow down and savour every sip or rev up and drink it down in a few gulps. From double magnum. 100% new oak. - Jane Anson, 2023

98 Points! The best since the 1990, the 2000 Pichon-Longueville Baron is just now starting to shed some baby fat and develop additional complexity and layers. This still ruby/plum-colored beauty boasts a phenomenal nose of blackcurrants, tobacco leaf, lead pencil shavings, and new saddle leather. It’s deep, full-bodied, and sexy, with incredible amounts of texture and opulence that keeps you coming back to the glass. It makes a mockery of so many Bordeaux today that are made in a so-called elegant style yet lack the fat, richness, and density to ever hit this high a level. With low acidity, beautiful purity of fruit, sweet tannins, and a great finish, it’s in the early to middle range of its drink window (I love it today) and has another two decades of sensational drinking ahead. Readers wanting to know what truly great Bordeaux tastes like should open a bottle of this! - Jeb Dunnuck, 2019

96 Points! A blend of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2000 Pichon Lalande is deep garnet-brick in color. It rolls out of the glass with easy-breezy scents of potpourri, dried cherries, fruit cake, and star anise, with wafts of sandalwood and crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate is in a sweet-spot with loads of intermingled dried berries, floral, and exotic spice notes framed by soft, powdery tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and fragrant. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, November 2022

96 Points! Sitting next to my former colleague, Pierre Antoine Rovani, at one of the tastings, he commented that he didn’t like the striking green note in the aromatics of this wine, which I didn’t detect at all, and a subsequent bottle at another tasting did not reveal it either. I do think there is a hint of bay leaf and a meatiness to it. In short, I find this to be a spectacular Pichon Lalande. Dense purple in color, with loads of coffee, mocha, creme de cassis, and chocolate notes, this is a somewhat unusual blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, and a whooping 10% Petit Verdot, with a little bit of Cabernet Franc. The Petit Verdot certainly gives the wine more of a tapenade, floral note, which I think can be interpreted by some as herbal. This is a rich, opulent, stunning Pichon Lalande that is beginning to drink beautifully, yet should continue to improve for at least another 10-15 years and last 30 or more years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com, 2010

100 Points! Just a powerhouse of a wine that does everything right, the 2000 Château Pavie is drinking incredibly well today, offering huge blackcurrant and chocolatey darker berry fruits as well as loads of truffly earth, tobacco, and spice. Full-bodied, deep, and concentrated on the palate, it stays flawlessly balanced, and while I suspect the acidity is quite low, it has an incredible sense of freshness and a weightless texture. Fully mature, yet in the early part of its drink window, it has another two decades or prime drinking ahead of it. - Jeb Dunnuck, December 2020

100 Points! Just beginning to come around and strut its enormous potential, this wine at age 15 has been evolving like a glacier. The wine has an inky, opaque, plum/purple color and a stunningly rich nose of mulberries, bramble berries, blackberries, licorice and incense as well as touches of toast and graphite. Fabulously concentrated and full-bodied, with a multidimensional mouthfeel, this profound Pavie is in mid-adolescence. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

100 Points! The 1999 Pavie is medium to deep garnet-brick in color. It springs out with spritely notes of redcurrant jelly, Morello cherries, and blackberry preserves giving way to suggestions of red roses, tobacco leaf, and pencil lead with a touch of tapenade. The medium-bodied palate has bags of energy, with a fine-grained texture and lively line to lift the long, mineral-laced finish. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

100 Points! The nose is fresh, bright, and dense. With aromas of violets, minerals, spices, cool stones, mint, dark fruits, and plum skins, this is beautiful. Very much still a baby right now, it needs much more time. This is a wine for the next generation. Finesse and elegance, truly a wine that makes you contemplate life. This is not about power, there is really nothing like it. 93% Cabernet Sauvignon. - JamesSuckling.com, February 2011

100 Points! A brilliant, heavenly wine that simply couldn't be any better, the 2000 Château Lafite-Rothschild is based on 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Merlot. Ripe currants, lead pencil, cedary spice, leather, and tons of tobacco and truffle all emerge on the nose, and on the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, with a broad, layered, deep yet at the same time weightless and seamless mouthfeel. It still has tannins and structure but is so complex and nuanced, with that classic Lafite elegance. It has another 30-40 years of prime drinking and will most likely see its 100th birthday still offering pleasure. Drink 2026-2066. - Jeb Dunnuck, April 2026

100 Points! Off the charts in every way (if I had to pick a desert island wine, this would be in the top handful), the 2000 Château La Mission Haut-Brion is deep, rich, layered, multi-dimensional, and full-bodied, with a sensational perfume of currants, tobacco, roasted herbs, graphite, and some iron nuances. Powerful and concentrated on the palate, it's nevertheless weightless, with silky, pure, graceful tannins and not a hard edge to be found. Just absolutely sensational, and if this doesn't do it for you, nothing will. Count yourself lucky if you have bottles in the cellar, as it's going to continue drinking amazingly well for another 30, 40, 50+ years. Drink 2026-2076. - Jeb Dunnuck, April 2026

100 Points! One of the wines of the vintage, the 2000 has barely budged in its evolution since it was bottled and released in 2002. After ten years in bottle, it still reveals a dense opaque purple color along with a potentially sensational bouquet of blueberries, black currants, graphite, asphalt and background oak. Extremely powerful, full-bodied and superbly concentrated with good acidity and high but round tannins, this massive La Mission-Haut-Brion should take its place among this estate’s most hallowed vintages when it hits full maturity in another one to two decades. I was surprised by just how youthful this wine tasted at age 12. If tasted blind, I would have guessed it to be around 4 to 5 years old. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com, 2012

94 Points! A very strong effort for Gruaud Larose, possibly eclipsed by what they have done in 2009, this is a pure, full-bodied Gruaud Larose with plenty of new saddle leather, cedar wood, black currants, cherries, licorice, and Provencal herbs. Spicy, earthy, full-bodied, and rich, it has hit its plateau of full maturity, where it should stay for another 20 or more years. - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #189, June 2010

100 Points! The 2000 Chateau Margaux is deep garnet in color, with a touch of brick. It leaps from the glass with evocative scents of plum preserves, blackberry pie, and redcurrant jelly, leading to wafts of dried lavender, powdered cinnamon, and tobacco leaf, with a hint of crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate is filled with black fruits and savory accents, with a velvety texture and seamless freshness, leading to a perfectly balanced, lingering perfume of a finish. Graceful, flawless perfection. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent, 2024

100 Points! The 2000 Margaux kicked off a string of great wines. The aromas are spellbinding, with notes of raspberry and strawberry. The palate is incredibly silky yet structured. Impeccable balance.- JamesSuckling.com

100 Points! Violet and iris aromatics curling out of the glass, starting to reach their full expression at 20 years old. Beautifully finessed and elegant, with hints of black truffle, cloves and rich blackberry fruits, this is a vintage that showcases the best of Margaux. It took its time to reach this point but it has been worth the wait, and the wine just gets better and better over a few hours in the glass. Highlights the success of the partnership between owner Corinne Mentzelopoulos and director Paul Pontantallier, with this château delivering some of the most memorable wines of the turn of the century years in Bordeaux. - Jane Anson, Decanter, July 2020

100 Points! Tasted from magnum, the 2000 Château Margaux is a prodigious, flawless wine that shows the elegance and seductive hallmark of the estate paired with incredible density, depth, and richness. Its still-ruby/purple color is followed by sensational notes of crème de cassis, spring flowers, lead pencil, and sandalwood that develop beautifully with time in the glass. Medium to full-bodied, opulent, and seamless, with a multi-dimensional, layered texture, it has a massive mid-palate, sweet tannins, and a finish that won’t quit. It’s drinking brilliantly today, and there’s certainly no need to delay gratification, but it’s going to continue evolving for another 3-4 decades. Bordeaux (or red wine, for that matter) doesn’t get any better. - Jeb Dunnuck, March 2019