What I Tasted on My Spring Break By Charles M. Bear Dalton

What I Tasted on My Spring Break By Charles M. Bear Dalton Bordeaux is back. You might ask When did it leave? The answer depends on what sort of wine drinker you are. If you love good Bordeaux and are not a slave to the press, good Bordeaux has been with us almost straight through since 1993. If you follow the Wine Spectator, you might believe there have only been three good Bordeaux vintages (1995, 2000, and now 2003) since 1990. If you read Robert Parker s Wine Advocate (as opposed to just looking at the scores), you ve been told that each vintage from 1993 forward has at least something to recommend it. In my opinion, there have been very good, fine, and excellent wines from every vintage from 1993 forward and in most of those vintages, there have been at least a few outstanding wines made. Tasting Bordeaux Each year in March, I fly to France and spend 10 to 14 days tasting in Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the Rhone. My trip corresponds with the Union des Grandes Crus (UGC) tastings held the last week of March. While in Bordeaux from Sunday through Friday, I ll taste 140 to 180 wines a day. Primarily, I am tasting barrel samples from the most recent vintage. Wherever possible, I re-taste wines from the previous vintage and the newly bottled wines from one vintage further back. On this last trip in March of 2004, I was primarily looking at 2003s but also re-tasting 2002s (mostly still un-bottled) and 2001s. I even got to taste a few 2000s and 1999s. This back-tasting helps confirm impressions from earlier visits and helps give me a handle on how the vintages are developing. These tastings take place at the large events held by the UGC but also in the Bordeaux negociants offices and in tasting rooms at the great chateaux. Each year, I taste at Vintex, Nathaniel Johnston, Ullysse Cazabone, Borie Manoux, Belland et Meneret, (continued p. 2) If you've been around wine very long, you've heard talk about "Bordeaux Futures" and you may have wondered what the deal is. Is this like the commodities exchange where contracts are repeatedly traded without the actual goods they represent even moving or being ready to move? Or do people really buy these wines and drink them? The answer is yes...to both. At one level, there is a fair amount of trading of Bordeaux futures contracts as the market for the wines gets stronger and the release dates approach. At the same time, educated consumers use the futures market to insure they are able to get the rarest wines and get them at the best prices. Here's how it works... During the April and May following a vintage, most Bordeaux chateaux offer a portion of their production to the wine brokers in Bordeaux at what is usually their lowest price. This first offer is called the premiere traunche, or first slice. These wines are then offered to the importers and exporters around the world who then offer them to the local trade the wine stores and restaurants. Some restaurants will buy a few cases of rare wines but most restaurants don't have the sort of wine programs where they invest in young Bordeaux to serve years later. At Spec's, we buy as heavily as possible during this time for two reasons. One is to buy good quantities of wines in every price range so we'll have the (continued p. 2) "...do people really buy these wines and drink them?" With wine, as in anything else, it helps to know the lingo. Here are some of the wine terms that relate specifically to Bordeaux: CLASSIFIED GROWTH: A chateau included in one of the classifications of Bordeaux. The most famous classification is the Classification of 1855 which grouped the wines of the Medoc and Ch. Haut Brion into five classes called growths. Graves, Sauternes, and St. Emilion have also been classified. Pomerol has never been classified. The top wines from these top wine growing areas are grouped together as Classified Growths. CLASSIFICATION OF 1855: In 1855, the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce undertook a formal classification of the wines of Bordeaux which was to be presented at the Paris World s Fair. The means used to make the classification was to divide the wines into groups based on the prices at which they routinely sold. The wines considered were the wines of the Medoc, plus one. Ch. Haut-Brion of Graves had such a high reputation that it had to be included as a first growth. The result was the famous five tiered ranking that is in use to this day. (continued p. 7) THE VINTAGES...2 THE DUMB STAGE...2 A CLOSER LOOK AT 2003...4 WHAT ABOUT 2002s?...4 CIGAR CENTRAL...5 LOW CARB WINE?...5 THE "G" WORD...6 2003 FUTURES...8 2002 FUTURES...10 BORDEAUX MAP...11 FAVORITE CHATEAUX...12 NOTEWORTHY WINES...14 VINEYARD VISIT...18 FEVERISH WINE?...19 TASTER'S NOTE...24 GIFT OF GOOD TASTE...24

www.specsonline.com (continued from page 1) inventory to sell off our racks when the vintage is shipped. The other is to offer the best possible prices on rare and expensive wines to our Bordeaux-loving customers. As we get confirmations on our orders, we offer the wines out for sale as futures, a way to buy wines that haven't even been bottled yet. On the wines we've tasted and like and on wines with great track records, we buy as much as we are allocated, often at several different prices. If our customers get hot on a particular wine and we run short or sell out, we go back and buy more, usually at a higher price. We then make a second offering reflecting that higher price. In order to open the futures opportunity to as many customers as possible, Spec's offers Bordeaux futures sales on bottles and three-packs as well as the standard twelve bottle cases. While the price advantage is not as substantial in the smaller lots, there is still an edge over what the wines will sell for on arrival. But far and away the main benefit here is the guarantee of availability. Single-bottle and three-pack pricing is available only on 750ml bottles of dry reds and whites and both on 375ml and 750ml bottles of most Sauternes. So what's all the fuss about? Just that the futures market insures the savvy Bordeaux lover a way to buy his favorite wines at the best prices they'll likely ever sell for, and a way to insure himself that he will actually get some of the rarer wines that may never make it onto a rack or shelf in the store. Is my 1996 Margaux in the stage? dumb When will my 2001 Ducru enter the dumb stage? When will it emerge? Will my 1989 Leoville las Cases ever emerge from the dumb stage? Don t open that yet, it s still in the dumb stage. What s the dumb stage? It is a period in a wine s development where the wine is undergoing reductive changes in the bottle as it sheds some of the fresh fruit of its (continued p. 3) Chateau Margaux Bordeaux Report (continued from p. 1) and Bordeaux Millesimes to name a few. I also taste at many chateaux whose wines are not shown at the UGC tastings. Each year I go to all the first growths and many of the seconds where we taste more than just that wine. There are second and sometimes third wines to taste as well as associated properties. At Mouton, we also taste Clerc Milon and d Armailhac, and at Lafite we also taste Carruades and Duhart Milon. At Haut Brion, we taste La Chappelle de la Mission (the 2nd vin of Ch. La Mission Haut Brion), Bahans Haut Brion (the 2nd vin of Ch. Haut Brion), Latour Haut Brion, La Mission Haut Brion, and Haut Brion as well as Laville Haut Brion (the white wine of La Mission) and Haut Brion Blanc. All in all at Haut Brion, we taste seven wines from each vintage and we usually taste two vintages. This year, the opportunity to re-taste past vintages served me well. The 2001 Ch. Margaux wine had not shown well in 2002 or 2003 and I was frankly a bit worried that I d made a mistake in buying it. My purchase was based on Margaux s superb track record and assurances by Margaux director Paul Pontalier that the wine was just backward and that it would come around. It finally did come around and is now showing very well, just in time for release. At dinners in restaurants and during visits and dinners at chateaux, we always drink older, usually mature wines. The last few years our Bordeaux dinner wines have included many great wines from 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, and 1995. We have had the odd 1982 and even a couple of 1991s. The 1991s from Ch. Latour, Ch. Parenchere, and Ch. Segur de Cabannac were shockingly good wines from a frankly forgettable, very wet vintage. All this tasting (and drinking) leads to a familiarity with a property that transcends vintage variation as well as to an understanding of each vintage and where its sub-regional strengths and weaknesses are. It also reinforces, for me at least, the notion that I d usually rather drink the wine from chateau I really like in a merely good or even mediocre vintage than wine from an also ran property in even a great vintage. 1993 and 1994 were lightly regarded, rain affected vintages that still made very nice, elegant, mediumweight clarets. Most from the lesser appellations have already been drunk and that is a good thing as most of them wouldn t have lasted. The best wines of these vintages (the top classified growths) are very pretty wines that in many cases are drinking very well now. Whenever I see good 1994s on wine lists, I am interested. They are often very good values and are always under appreciated. 1995 was a great warm year that made fine wines all over Bordeaux. These were big rich wines somewhat in the style of 1982 and 1990 featuring ample fruit and flavor with good ripeness and a fairly low level of acidity. The 1995s tasted good on release and while they did descend a bit into the dumb stage (please see side bar The Dumb Stage at left), it was not a deep descent and the wines were enjoyably drinkable. Many of the age-worthy wines have now emerged and blossomed. While the first growths need a bit more time for optimum drinking, many of the other classified growths from 1995 are drinking beautifully. Even a number of petite chateaux are holding up nicely. 1996 was, if you believe James Suckling of the Wine Spectator, a disappointing vintage. Or, if you follow Robert Parker, 1995 was the greatest Cabernet Sauvignon vintage in Bordeaux since World War II. Parker is correct. While the Merlot-dominated right bank appellations (Pomerol, St. Emilion, etc.) yielded many very good wines in 1996, it was the Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated left bank appellations (Graves, Medoc, Margaux, St. Julien, Pauillac, and St. Estephe) that had the potential to make excellent and even outstanding wines in 1996. I still remember tasting the outstanding 1996 Ch. Margaux in the chateau and being momentarily transported by the wine. The also outstanding 1996 Ch. Latour out of barrel was so intense that it was almost painful to hold it in the mouth. All the better 1996 wines were excellent from the barrel and were excellent on their release in 1998 and 1999. Most of the Cabernet-based wines had enough intensity and acidity that they have slipped firmly into the dumb stage. They are not undrinkable now but will be so much better with a few more years in the bottle that it seems a shame not to hold them. 1997 made pretty wines that emphasized fresh fruit and perfume with a classic weight and structure. They are not blockbusters and there was some unevenness in quality attributable to uneven ripeness due to an extended, uneven flowering period. Some clusters (especially Merlot in St. Emilion) had ripe grapes with some green grapes mixed in so a good triage was important. The 1997s also had the problem of being released as futures at prices too high for the quality, coming immediately after the excellent 1996s. Since there have been no price increases (and in fact some discounting) on the 1997s from the time they were sold as futures, the vintage is now reasonably priced and drinking very well. 1997 was an excellent to outstanding year for the sweet wines from Sauternes and Barsac.

713-526-8787 1998 offered a great vintage for the right bank appellations of St. Emilion and Pomerol (as well as Montagne and Lussac St. Emilion Lalande de Pomerol, Fronsac, Cotes de Castillon, and Cotes de Francs) and the left bank Graves red and white wine area (especially wines labeled Pessac-Leognan). These areas benefited from a combination of warm weather and early ripening varieties (a lot of Merlot and Cabernet Franc). 1998 was a fine but not great year for the later ripening left bank Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines. Except for the top Pomerol and St. Emilion Chateaux (especially the over-hyped "garagistas"), the wines were well priced as futures and offered many fine buys. The classically structured 1998s are now mostly in the dumb stage but the Merlot-based wines are not deep into it and still are showing well. The best Cabernet-based wines still need time to emerge. These underrated, well-balanced, classically-styled Margaux, Pauillac, and St. Julien wines will offer excellent drinking beginning in the next couple of years. 1999 is a vintage that was initially underrated by virtually all of the wine press and much of the wine trade. Almost all of them have revised their opinions upward. 1999 is a very even vintage featuring elegant, very well balanced wines with lovely fresh fruit flavors. They are a pure pleasure to drink now but they also are developing nicely and will continue to improve. This is a fine vintage to hold or drink while you are waiting on your 1996s, 1998s and 2000s. 2000 is an excellent vintage with very consistent, very high quality all over Bordeaux. The weather was excellent and everything got ripe. All the improving vineyard practice and winery wizardry via the consulting enologists paid off. Then the hype machine kicked in. It was the vintage of the turn of the millennium. And Parker loved it. And the Spectator loved it. And the prices, especially on the top wines, shot through the roof as greed and speculation took over. It is a great vintage to hold for 5 to 25 years depending on the chateau. The most hyped wines are way over-priced but that is no different from any other great vintage. The 2000s are now mostly in stock and most futures purchases have been delivered (most but not all we are still waiting on a few wines). 2001 is a very even, very good vintage with fine wines made in all areas of Bordeaux. It was a vintage where properties capable of making balanced, elegant, multi-dimensional wines excelled and wineries depending on only ripeness and manipulation did alright but no better than alright. 2001 required some quality in terroir for the best wines. The wines that are now coming into the market are well balanced with good fruit and some of 1999s evenness and elegance. They are drinking well now on release and should continue to drink very well as young wines over the next year or so. They mostly likely then will go dumb and require some patience before they blossom at the end of the dumb stage. As they are balanced and not too extracted, they should not go too dumb and most will remain drinkable as they develop. 2001 was reasonably priced and bought with strong dollars so, like the 1999s these wines represent fine values. In addition to its many fine and excellent dry red and white wines, 2001 was an excellent Sauternes vintage 2002 is a vintage where the terroir shone like few others. If you taste and consider only the top 80 to 100 wines (mostly - but not exclusively - from the left bank) that are the product of great terroir, 2002 is an excellent to outstanding vintage. If you consider only the other several hundred chateaux that do not possess great terroir or were not in the right weather patterns, 2002 could be a mediocre to poor vintage. It really is a vintage of haves and have-nots where it was very important to taste before buying. Spec s offered fewer 2002s as futures than any vintage since 1994 but those 2002s that we bought and offered we can endorse unequivically. The 2002s, still available as futures, were bought with strong dollars and the hype machine never really kicked in so they are excellent values, especially when compared to the 2003s now being offered as futures. The 2003 vintage was one of the hottest on record. It was so hot that some areas where the early ripening Merlot is the dominant grape variety suffered severe heat stress and could not make good wines. Ch. Le Pin was unable to even produce a crop and Vieux Ch. Certan produced only 800 cases instead of its usual 4000 (although that 800 cases is excellent). However, those properties with the right terroir and the right grapes planted made excellent wines that were very easy to taste and evaluate. The top Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines show a stylistic similarity to 1990 and 1982. For these (mostly left bank) wines, 2003 is an excellent to outstanding vintage where even wines from the northern, cooler areas of the Medoc had fine to excellent potential. The bad news is that the Bordeaux wine press hype machine has kicked in and some wineries took ridiculous price increases. The worse news is that the dollar is as weak as it has ever been against the Euro which has caused prices in dollars to rise even further. These wines are not cheap but like 1990 and 1982, they will provide consistently pleasurable drinking for many years to come. View from St. Julien; Ch. Pichon Baron on left and Pichon Lalande on right Dumb Stage (continued from p. 2) youth and gains the complexity of a bottle-developed bouquet. Most wines do not go discernibly dumb but the dumb stage is a factor with most red Bordeaux wines. However good they may taste on release (and many are incredibly good on release), fine red Bordeaux is intended to develop with age. In most vintages, the wine closes down for a period as it changes in the bottle. In some vintages, the wine goes more dumb and stays dumb longer. In other vintages, the wines are much less affected and/or are affected for a shorter period of time. Really hot Bordeaux vintages (1982, 1990, 2003) tend to produce wines with lower acidity. The lower acid wines don t go as dumb and may stay in the dumb stage for a relatively shorter period. Great classic Bordeaux vintages (1986, 1989, 1996) tend to have more acidity and so, go more deeply into the dumb stage. Medium-weight, well-balanced vintages like 1999 go dumb but don t go deeply into it and the wines don t stay dumb as long. Generally speaking, the most expensive wines - the biggest, most intense, most extracted wines - go dumb for the longest time and the least expensive Bordeaux reds may not go dumb at all (because the least expensive wines often have all the development they will ever need by the time they are released). Almost all the 1990s have emerged but many of the best 1989s could use a couple of more years to fully emerge. Even some 1986s are still finishing up. On the other hand, many 1995s have already emerged. What happens if you drink a wine during the dumb stage? A lot depends on where the wine is in its development but most of them actually taste pretty good just not as good as they did or will. You can help them taste better by splashing the wine into a decanter (as opposed to gently decanting it). I like to use a cheap one-liter glass carafe for this so I can turn the bottle upside down with its neck in the carafe and let the wine glug out. Unless you are holding a treasure for optimum aging, don t be too concerned about the dumb stage. It is a factor but you must also remember that you can t enjoy your wines unless you drink them. If you are going to drink a wine too late or too soon, it is always better to err on the side of too soon. The most important thing is to drink your wine.

www.specsonline.com Try tasting over 800 young red Bordeaux wines in one week. The term toothstaining was invented to describe these wines. They also stain the tongue and gums and even the fingers where they hold the stem of the wine glass (not to mention the clothes). Over the course of each day, aggressive, young tannins and fruity acidity sear the palate. And even if you are a consistent and conscientious spitter, the alcohol, via sub-lingual absorption, will take its toll. Much of this sort of tasting is done in crowded rooms or special event tents while standing up. This is hardly an opportunity to get to know a particular wine; it is more like the vinous equivalent of "Hey there. Come here often? Can-Ibuy-you-one?" and about as much fun. So why do it? These tastings allow me to form at least an initial impression of what's coming down the pipeline regarding The author Bear Dalton & Ch. Margaux Director Paul Pontalllier. specific wines and the vintage as a whole, and perhaps avoid some costly mistakes. What do I look for when forming that first impression of these relative babies? First and foremost, fruit. If the wines have enough fruit, they have a chance. If they don't show any fruit at this age, it won t develop later - so the wines aren't worth further consideration. After fruit, I look for balance, depth of flavor, and concentration. Even at this early age, a good wine will show where it's headed. If all the elements are in balance when young, the wines will generally stay balanced as they develop. If the flavors are rich and concentrated enough, the wine will continue to taste deep and satisfying instead of prematurely becoming a washed out shell of its early potential. I look for wines that show some complexity and nuance (in Bordeaux spice, pepper, tobacco, tea, leather, herbs, minerals, cedar, etc.) and for wines that demonstrate the structure (a combination of tannin, extract, color, alcohol, and acidity) that will allow them to age. And finally, I look for the wine to taste of its appellation and its fore-runners. A good Pauillac wine should bear a resemblance to other good Pauillacs from the same vintage and a strong family resemblance to other vintages from the same chateau. On my most recent trip to Bordeaux, I took tasting notes on over 800 wines more than half of which were barrel samples from the 2003 vintage. Looking at the wines by region shows many of the strengths and weaknesses of the 2003 vintage. As I noted earlier, many of the wines from the Merlot-dominated areas of St. Emilion and especially Pomerol were frankly disappointing. I tasted very few Pomerols that I thought were worth considering. We bought le Bon Pasteur and Vieux Ch. Certan. We will buy Petrus (which I have not tasted but I have heard good reports from those who have). In St. Emilion, Cheval Blanc made excellent but not outstanding wine. Ausone (on the other side of the village) made a wine many are classing in the top wines of the vintage. I thought it was excellent but not in the very top class. There are a number of excellent St. Emilions (Angelus, Canon La Gaffeliere, Pavie, Pavie Decesse, Pavie MacQuin, etc.) but they are mostly located on soils with better water retention further away from Pomerol. Other less fancy right bank appellations such as Lalande de Pomerol, the Cotes de Castillon, and the Cotes de Francs did better with many lower-priced, very interesting wines that should appeal to the regular Bordeaux drinker (as opposed to the trophy hunting collector). Look for Puygueraud, the Georges Cuvee de Ch. Puygueraud (with its high percentage of Malbec), La Prade, La Rousselle, La Fleur St. Georges, La Fleur de Bouard, Ch. d Aguilhe, Ampelia, and Cap de Faugeres. The Graves area (especially Pessac Leognan) made many fine and excellent and even a couple of potentially outstanding dry red and white wines in 2003. For reds, look at all the wines from the Haut Brion estates as well as Pape Clement, Domaine de Chevalier, Haut Bailly, Smith Haut Lafitte, Carbonnieux, Haut Bergey, and Clos Marsalette. All of these wines are at least fine and many of them are excellent. Haut Brion is Outstanding and La Mission and Pape Clement could get there. For dry whites Haut Brion Blanc was outstanding and Laville Haut Brion, What About... THE 2002s? 2002 was a vintage that required a severe selection to be made of the wines to buy and offer to our customers. Where the terroir was good there was great potential for high quality wine. Where great terroir was lacking, the wines showed it. Top terroir can be found in a number of subappellations in Bordeaux so there are fine 2002s from all over the Bordelaise map. The style of 2002 is elegant, balanced claret with more weight and intensity and better overall quality than 1999. These wines are not blockbusters but they offer tremendous pleasure and they will excel at the table. The top part of the vintage is truly excellent. In St. Emilion and Pomerol, two of the best wines came from near neighbors Cheval Blanc and Vieux Ch. Certan. Both use a very high (for their appellations) percentage of Cabernet Franc with the more usual Merlot and both vineyards contain a lot of gravel. The result is a more elegant, balanced wine than many of their neighbors produce. Other top St. Emilion properties with high levels of Cabernet Franc include Angelus and Canon la Gafelliere. Both are well worth seeking out. In the Graves region, The Haut Brion wines performed at their usual high level as did Smith Haut Lafitte and Pape Clement, Haut Brion was outstanding and La Mission not far behind. In the Medoc, all the first growths made excellent to even outstanding wines. Latour and Lafite were favorites with Margaux right behind and Mouton just following Margaux. All the second growths showed well with Ducru Beaucaillou and Rauzan Segla making very elegant wines. Leovilles Barton and Poyferre both are excellent with ample fruit and a fine balance. The Pauillac Pichons (Baron and Lalande) are quite different though both are excellent. Pichon Baron is big and rich while Lalande has a lovely almost ethereal character and a more elegant style. Lynch Bages is like Pichon Baron. Palmer is big and juicy with an almost California richness. In St. Estephe, Montrose is excellent and the 2002 Cos d Estournel was, until I tasted the 2003, the best Cos I can remember tasting. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN TO YOU? Because we tasted all the wines before buying them to offer to you, I am able to endorse almost everything on our 2003 and 2002 futures lists to be worth considering. The only wines that I bought that I don t personally think are worth the money are wines that got great press or extremely high scores from The Wine Spectator or Robert Parker. You can see from the scores on the price grid where the Spectator, Parker, Steve Tanzer, and I agreed and disagreed. What does this mean for the average Bordeaux afficianado? Basically that with 2003, the whole market has moved up a bit in price (yet again) and that some formerly affordable, formerly available wines have become more expensive and more scarce. There is now a larger than ever disconnect between the prices of the most sought after wines and the prices of the standards. Even so, the dedicated claret drinker can still find plenty of wines that offer good drinking at fair prices, as well as some that are out-right bargains. Due to the high prices of the 2000s and the 2003s, the beautiful 1999s look like even better bargains than they already did, the just arriving 2001s look better than ever, and the remaining 2002 futures suddenly seem down-right cheap.

(continued from p. 4) Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, and Carbonnieux were all excellent. Incidentally, Pavillon Blanc du Ch. Margaux (a 100% Sauvignon Blanc white grown at Margaux but carrying a simple Bordeaux appellation) was also excellent. The Medoc is the sub-region of Bordeaux that benefited most from the torrid weather. While the heat and the techniques needed to deal with it kept the crops small, the quality was exceptional as all the Cabernet Sauvignon and even all the Petite Verdot got fully ripe. All the properties that revealed their blends told me they used all the Petite Verdot that they had. The wines from the appellation of Margaux were a consistently high quality lot with noteworthy efforts from Ch. Margaux (outstanding and, along with Latour and Lafite, one of the three best wines of the vintage), Palmer, Rauzan Segla, Kirwan, and Pavillon Rouge. There is a gap where not many vines are grown between Margaux and St. Julien. When the vineyards start back up as the road rises into St. Julien, they continue on unbroken through Pauillac and St. Estephe into the Haut Medoc and Medoc appellations. It was here in these cooler more northern Medoc appellations that the heat did the most good. St. Julien made two really excellent Leovilles (Barton and Poyferre), an excellent Gruaud Larose and Talbot, and an excellent although decidedly new style of Ducru-Beaucaillou that more closely resembles Palmer than previous Ducrus. Pauillac turned out two outstanding wines Lafite and Latour (the best wine of the vintage) as well as a potentially outstanding Mouton and excellent wines from both Pichons (Baron and Lalande), Les Forts de Latour, Lynch Bages, Grand Puy Lacoste, Clerc Milon, d Armailhac, and Haut Batailley. Pontet Canet and Batailley were both at least fine. St. Estephe turned in brilliant efforts from both Cos d Estournel and Montrose with Calon Segur not too far behind. These are the stars but don t forget fine but much less hyped wines from Lafon Rochet, Cos Labory, de Pez, and les Ormes de Pez. The Haut Medoc turned in a potentially excellent Sociando Mallet and a fine to excellent La Bernadotte (from the wine making team at Pichon Lalande). This all is sure to be welcome news. The not so welcome news is that 2003 was a small vintage and, in order to make wines as good as they did, the chateaux making the best wines made severe selections with only the best juice making it into their grand vin. Some very high quality "second wines" (and a couple of third wines) were made but a fair amount of cru classe juice also was sold in bulk. All these factors add up to a short supply of 2003s. As always happens when demand outstrips supply, prices have gone up. Most chateaux have opened their 2003 wines (premiere traunche) at prices substantially higher than the current prices for the same 2002s. Some price increases were more than 100 percent. Spec's is so much more than a liquor store! Did you know that we have fully-stocked walk-in cigar humidors in over 15 of our Neighborhood stores, (and of course at our Downtown Superstore, located right inside the main entrance)? You will be pleased at our selection and low prices. For your smoking enjoyment, Spec's offers a wide variety of quality cigars from around the world. Our humidors also maintain a great selection of cigar accessories such as personal humidors, hygrometers, humidifiers, lighters and cutters, and it's easy for us to put together And our Downtown Superstore is famous for the help, who actually enjoy helping! Whether you are new to the passionate world of cigars, or are already a discriminating cigar afficianado, our fully knowledgeable and experienced staff caters to you. For any cigar explanation, assistance or recommendation, they can assist you in acquiring the pefect cigar experience. Let our staff guide you through the many flavors, aromas, wraps and makes of our huge selection. You can call them at 713-526-8787 and ask for the Humidor. At Spec's, we carry all major brands of cigars, such as: Arturo Fuente (including Opus X, Don Carlos and Hemmingway); Diamond Crown (including VSG); Padron (including the 1964 Anniversario and 1926); Graycliff; Cusano (including the 18 Year and Exclusivo); Rocky Patel Vintage; Acid; Macanudo; Punch; Helix; Onix; CAO; Comancho; Baccaratt; Don Tomas, Romeo y Julieta; Cohiba (including XV); Las Cabrillas; Ramone Allones; La Aroma De Cuba; Montecristo; Hoya de Monterey; Saint gift baskets for any occasion with all the wonderful selections we have. "...our Downtown Superstore is famous for the help, who actually enjoy helping!" Luis Rey; Sancho Panza; El Rey Del Mundo; Partagas; Carlos Torano; Don Diego; H. Upmann; Butera; Don Juan; Bolivar; Te Amo; La Unica; Avo; Griffin and La Gloria Cubana. We also offer a complete line of miniature cigars and cigarillos as well as a wide variety of flavored cigars and all Dannemann products. Don't forget to ask about special discounts available with your Spec's Key, or you can look them up online at www.specsonline.com. It's definately worth a trip downtown to check out our famous and respected "Seconds Bin", for a special buy. These "seconds" are handrolled cigars that just didn't quite make the cut. Because they are hand rolled, they might be a tad under or over the cigar factory's weight requirements, or perhaps rolled a bit too short or too long. Whatever the small descrepency, they are still a great quality cigar, and we are able to purchase them at great savings and pass it on to you. So no need to make a special stop at a cigar shop, when you can stop at Spec's and buy it all, for less! 713-526-8787 Yes the world has gone low-carb crazy. Now the wine industry has its first advertised low carbohydrate wines. Beaulieu Vineyards and Sterling have decided to change their labeling and show consumers a lighter side to their wines. How are these wines low-carb? As a new ruling by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Bureau, wines and malt beverages with less than 7 grams of carbohydrates per serving are now allowed to call themselves low carbohydrate. Also to be included in the new point of sale information offered by these wineries will be nutritional information on fat content, protein and caloric value per serving. How many of us knew that by drinking a single glass of Beaulieu Vineyards Coastal Chardonnay that we are consuming a mere 3 grams of carbohydrates? Only 124 calories and 0 grams of fat as well! Dieters of the world unite around this epiphany! Spec s offers the entire line of Beaulieu Coastal wines as well as Sterling Vintners labels. Come in, buy, and enjoy with less guilt! Beaulieu Vineyards Coastal Chardonnay, Cabernet, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, or Zinfandel 750ml EVERY DAY! $7.42 btl $82.65 case Sterling Vintners Chardonnay or Merlot 750ml EVERY DAY! $10.99 btl $123.12 case Sterling Vintners Cabernet 750ml EVERY DAY! $10.12 btl $121.44 case

www.specsonline.com Over an excellent late lunch of osso bucco and spinach with two ladies at Simposio recently, I tasted seven very interesting wines. Three were from MacMurray Ranch (one of the Northern California's newest wineries) and three were from Louis Martini (one of California's oldest wineries). In terms of both the food and company, it was a lovely lunch but then I expected as much. What really impressed me though was just how good the wines were... MACMURRAY RANCH is the family estate of late actor Fred MacMurray. His daughter Kate lives on the estate in the "John Wayne" cabin (as it was where Mr. Wayne always stayed when he visited, which was frequently). The MacMurrays never grew grapes or made wine, but the new owners kept the name and even hired Kate MacMurray to help manage and market the wines. The MacMurray Ranch is on Westside Road in the Russian River Valley and so grows (not surprisingly) Pinot Noir, but also grows (maybe a bit surprisingly) Pinot Gris. The cool climate and fog of the Russian River Valley are actually ideal for both grapes. We tasted the Pinot Gris and both the Russian River and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noirs... MacMURRAY RANCH Pinot Gris Russian River Valley, 2002 $17.64 btl $193.20 case 12x750ml This is a lively, well-focused, refreshing pear-white peach-andlime-oriented Pinot Gris with the minerally terroir notes and crisp acidity it needs to be balanced. It has an elegant structure with good weight and richness and a fine feel but it is not at all heavy. Excellent. Bear's Score: 91 points. MacMURRAY RANCH Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast, 2002 $12.92 btl $143.88 case 12x750ml From grapes grown in the cool, higher elevation vineyards of the Sonoma Coast appellation, this wine spent five months in a mix of mostly seasoned French oak. The result is a light-to-medium-bodied red offering dark red cherry fruit and notes of chocolate and earth with a hint of new leather. Quite flavorful with a juicy texture and mediumweight feel, it gains in richness as it unfolds in the glass. Fine+. Bear's Score: 90 points. MacMURRAY RANCH Pinot Noir Russian River Valley, 2001 $23.81 btl $260.82 case 12x750ml After 12 months in a mix of new and seasoned French oak barrels, this Russian River Pinot offers good richness and density with a lovely juicy texture and ample dark cherry fruit. Complexity comes in the notes of black pepper and spice, earth, cocoa, and cola. The long finish retains fruit and perfume before it resolves clean. Excellent. Bear's Score: 91+ points. THE LOUIS MARTINI WINERY is one of the old icons of the Napa Valley and the whole California wine industry. There were great Cabernets from the 1940s (the winery was founded in 1933) through the 1990s and now into this century. The wines were sometimes out of fashion - Martini always went for balance rather than power - but quality was never lacking. Even the very basic Louis Martini "California" Cabernets were always much better than the price would indicate and often were the first commercially available indicator of the quality of a vintage that was just moving into release. Here are notes on the three Cabernets we tasted with lunch. LOUIS MARTINI Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County, 2001 $11.99 btl $134.29 case 12x750ml The winery's tech sheet says 88% Cabernet Sauvignon with 9% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc - which is 2% shy of 100. None-theless, this is a medium weight, fruit forward, spicy Cabernet Sauvignon featuring plenty of red cherry and red berry fruit with notes of tobacco and cedar and a sweet spiciness. The wine is well balanced and elegant - everything I expect from a Martini Cabernet. Really Fine. Bear's Score: 90+ points. So what do MacMurray Ranch and Louis Martini Winery have in common? The "G" word. As in both are owned by Gallo. Gallo created MacMurray Ranch and purchased (and is in the process of revitalizing) Louis Martini. Even though both properties are Gallo owned, they each have their own personalities and are in fact separate wineries in terms of winemaking and grape sources. And speaking of Gallo, we also tasted another interesting white wine at lunch... LOUIS MARTINI Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2000 $17.23 btl $191.84 case 12x750ml The winery's tech sheet says this is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon with 19% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petite Verdot - which is 1% shy of 100%. The result is a classic, classy, balanced Napa Cab offering dusty-ripe blackberry fruit with good richness and notes of tea, tobacco, and cedar, along with hints of earthy minerals and black pepper. It has a juicy richness in the mouth with an excellent feel but finishes dusty dry. It is elegant (not at all heavy) and complete and very well integrated. Delicious. Excellent. Bear's Score: 93 points. LOUIS MARTINI Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Alexander Valley, 2000 $20.65 btl $229.95 case 12x750ml A blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Merlot made from uncrushed, destemmed grapes ("whole berry fermentation") and aged 26 months in a mixture of mostly seasoned French, European, and American oak barrels. The result is a balanced, elegant, but still masculine Cab that tastes most strongly of Cabernet fruit with strong blackberry and cassis notes and nuance of tobacco, dried herbs, and blackberry liqueur perfume. Excellent. Bear's Score: 92 points. GALLO SONOMA ESTATE Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, 1999 $35.56 btl $195.74 case 6x750ml Made from Gallo's best Chardonnay, barrel-fermented and aged on the lees (which are regularly stirred) in 100% new light-to-medium toast French oak barrels, this lively juicy, minerally, well-focused, classy, balanced Chardonnay is about as close as Sonoma gets to a wellaged 1er cru Meursault. The ample fruit is in the green pear, ripe apple, peach, and tropical lime range with notes of banana and butterscotch and a hint of vanilla. The new oak is almost completely integrated. The wine is very well balanced with a fine feel, good intensity, and a super long finish. Excellent. Bear's Score: 92+ points.

713-526-8787 (continued from p.1). CRU BOURGEOIS - Because there were many chateaux left out the 1855 Classification due to newness or lower prices, and because a number of new chateaux have been established since then, there were a large number of very good but unclassified Medoc chateaux. Many of these chateaux banded together to form the Syndicate of Crus Bourgeois. In 1978, they classified themselves as Crus Grands Bourgeois Exceptionnels, Crus Grands Bourgeois, and Crus Bourgeois, in descending order of quality. Many of the best of these wines stand up very well to wines ranked as high as third growths in the Classification of 1855. LEFT BANK, RIGHT BANK Bordeaux is split in two by the Gironde, a large estuary formed by the confluence of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers. If you are facing north (or down river), the Medoc and Graves are on the left bank and St. Emilion and Pomerol are on the right bank. The wines of the left bank tend to have a high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the mix. Almost all of the wines of the right bank are based on Merlot. MICROBIOLAGE A technique for bubbling a small amount of oxygen into wine in the barrel for gentle oxygenation without racking the wine off its lees. PETITE CHATEAU A chateau, usually lower priced, not included in any of the classifications. A chateau that could not be considered a classified growth. PIGEAGE (pronounced peej ahj with soft g sounds) The Burgundian method of cap management where the cap of grape skins and pulp is punched down into the fermenting juice and so broken up so the juice mixes with the skins allowing extraction of color, flavor, and tannin. PUMP-OVER The more typically Bordelaise practice of pumping juice from the bottom of the tank and spraying it over the top of the cap so it extracts color and flavor and tannin as it filters through. RACK, RACKING Racking is moving the wine from one barrel to another, often using a siphon (pumps also may be used) to get the clear wine off its lees in the old barrel and feed the wine some oxygen through air exposure. Cabernetbased wines need more racking than Merlot-based wines as Cabernet needs more air than Merlot. SECOND WINE, SECOND LABEL Many chateaux make more than one wine. Often they take the best of what they make and bottle it with the name of the chateau. They then take what doesn t make the cut for that grand vin and blend the best wine they can and label it with a second label. The wine left after the second wine is made is generally sold off in bulk. In the best case scenario (such as at Latour, or Margaux, Pichon Baron, or Rauzan Segla) these second wines are high quality, earlier drinking expressions of the estate that reflect many of the same characteristics as the grand vin. In the worst case, they are junk. TERROIR - (pronounced tear whar) takes in the whole combination of soil, climate, viticultural practice, and happenstance of location that gives a wine from a single site its uniqueness. Great terroir comes through in great wine. It is possible to make bad wine from great terroir but not the reverse. Terroir also denotes that unique character of the site as it expresses in the wine. TRIAGE the sorting process wherein the bunches of grapes are examined for ripeness and uniformity and any bad sections, unripe grapes, raisins, rot, or excess stems and leaves are cut out. Most often, this is done on sorting tables topped with slow moving conveyer belts to feed the clusters past the experienced workers. UNION DES GRANDES CRUS (OR UGC) The organization of Bordeaux producers that includes most of the classified growths and the top wines of Pomerol. The UGC puts on a huge trade event in Bordeaux at the end of March each year and several smaller tastings around the world during the course of the year. Spec's Next Wine Tour CHILE and ARGENTINA Your job is to get to Buenos Aires by early afternoon on Saturday, September 4, 2004. My job is to show you Buenos Aires including fine meals with fine wine, tango shows, coffee at la Recoleta, markets, and shopping on Saturday and Sunday. Monday we are off to an Argentine estancia for a traditional barbecue lunch and a gaucho demonstration. Monday night we will fly to Mendoza where we will stay at the Park Hyatt. Monday dinner will be at a local landmark restaurant Pan-y- Teatro, in Mendoza. Tuesday and Wednesday will be spent touring the wine country around Mendoza and visiting three producers a day. Some meals will be in the wineries. Thursday morning we will fly to Chile and Thursday afternoon and evening will be spent touring wineries south of Santiago. Friday will offer wine touring and dining in and around Santiago. Saturday morning will offer one winery visit and then lunch and shopping before we go to the airport to return to Buenos Aires in time to fly back to the U.S. Saturday (September 11th) night. Round trip airfare from the U.S. to Buenos Aires is not included in this trip so that you may extend your stay in the front or at the end and may use airline miles for upgrades or free tickets. Double occupancy will cost $2400 per person and includes all meals, hotels, visits, tips, and fares (except the fare from the U.S. to Buenos Aires and back). For more information, please call Kim Levy at Spec's at 832-660-0250 or email Bear Dalton at Bear@specsonline.com.

www.specsonline.com Item # Name Parker's Score* Spectator Score* Tanzer's Score* 001550 Ch. Le CONSEILLER, Bordeaux, 2003 88-90S 86-88 12 750ml $19.19 $52.95 $197.04 001539 Ch. AMPELLIA, Cotes de Castillon, 2003 88-90 12 750ml $15.10 $41.67 $155.16 001446 Ch. CAP de FAUGERES, Cotes de Castillon, 2003 88-90S 88-90 12 750ml $16.39 $45.24 $168.36 001560 Ch. d'aiguilhe, Cotes de Castillon, 2003 89-91 92-94 87-90 89-91 12 750ml $29.10 $80.31 $298.92 001473 Ch. FONTENIL, Fronsac, 2003 88-91 87-90 88-91 12 750ml $25.38 $70.05 $260.64 001525 Ch. BAHANS HAUT BRION (2nd of Haut Brion), Pessac Leognan (Graves) Rouge, 2003 87-89 87-90 89-92 12 750ml $51.66 $142.59 $530.64 001545 Ch. BARRET, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Rouge, 2003 86-88 12 750ml $16.85 $46.50 $173.04 001480 Ch. HAUT BAILLY, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Rouge, 2003 87-89 85-88 87-90 89-91 12 750ml $$44.28 122.19 $454.80 001523 Ch. HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Rouge, 2003 95-98 95-100 93-96 96-98 12 750ml $286.56 $790.92 $2,943.60 001526 Ch. LA MISSION HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Rouge, 2003 90-92 95-100 90-93 91-95 12 750ml $138.65 $382.68 $1,424.16 001527 Ch. LA TOUR HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Rouge, 2003 87-89 89-91 90-93 12 750ml $53.65 $148.08 $551.04 001536 Ch. PAPE CLEMENT, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Rouge, 2003 92-94 92-94 89-92 92-95 12 750ml $93.85 $259.02 $964.08 001506 Ch. SMITH HAUT LAFITTE, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Rouge, 2003 90-92 92-94 90-92 90-92 12 750ml $49.48 $136.56 $508.20 001465 DOMAINE de CHEVALIER, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Rouge, 2003 88-90 87-90 91-93 12 750ml $37.71 $104.10 $387.36 001529 LA CHAPELLE DE LA MISSION (2nd of La Mission Haut Brion), Pessac Leognan (Graves) Rouge, 2003 89-91 12 750ml $31.78 $87.69 $326.40 001483 Ch. La FLEUR de BOUARD, Lalande de Pomerol, 2003 88-91 85-87 88-91 12 750ml $38.03 $104.94 $390.60 001484 Ch. La FLEUR St. GEORGES, Lalande de Pomerol, 2003 87-89+ 12 750ml $18.03 $49.74 $185.16 001565 Ch. D ISSAN, Margaux, 2003 88-90+ 85-88 87-89 12 750ml $38.03 $104.94 $390.60 001466 Ch. du TERTRE, Margaux, 2003 90-92S 89-91 87-90 89-91 12 750ml $32.09 $88.56 $329.64 001474 Ch. GISCOURS, Margaux, 2003 91-94 92-94 87-90 87-89 12 750ml $42.19 $116.43 $433.32 001515 Ch. KIRWAN, Margaux, 2003 90-92 85-88 90-92 12 750ml $38.65 $106.68 $396.96 001555 Ch. MARGAUX, Margaux, 2003 96-100 95-100 94-98 95-99 12 750ml CALL CALL CALL 001563 Ch. PALMER, Margaux, 2003 88-91 89-91 88-91 90-92 12 750ml $133.44 $368.28 $1,370.64 001499 Ch. PRIEUR LICHINE, Margaux, 2003 88-90 89-91 87-90 87-89 12 750ml $34.38 $94.89 $353.16 001500 Ch. RAUZAN SEGLA, Margaux, 2003 88-90 92-94 88-90 92-95 12 750ml $62.50 $172.50 $642.00 001533 PAVILLON ROUGE (2nd of Ch. Margaux), Margaux, 2003 90-93 92-94 90-93 12 750ml $55.73 $153.81 $572.40 001448 Ch. CHARMAIL, Haut Medoc, 2003 88-91 88-91 88-90 12 750ml $21.53 $59.40 $221.16 001498 Ch. POTENSAC, Medoc, 2003 88-90S 89-91 87-90 87-89 12 750ml $25.03 $69.06 $257.04 001507 Ch. SOCIANDO MALLET, Haut Medoc, 2003 91-94 92-94 90-93 90-92 12 750ml $41.78 $115.29 $429.12 001561 CARRUADES de LAFITE (2nd of Lafite), Pauillac, 2003 90-92 89-91 88-91 90-92 12 750ml $48.44 $133.68 $497.52 001542 Ch. BATAILLEY, Pauillac, 2003 87-89 89-91 12 750ml $30.73 $84.81 $315.60 001449 Ch. CLERC MILON, Pauillac, 2003 90-93 95-100 89-92 90-92 12 750ml $42.19 $116.43 $433.32 001459 Ch. D ARMAILHAC, Pauillac, 2003 89-92 92-94 88-91 90-92 12 750ml $33.44 $92.28 $343.44 001468 Ch. DUHART MILON, Pauillac, 2003 90-93 92-94 88-91 87-89 12 750ml $36.04 $99.45 $370.20 001516 Ch. HAUT BAGES AVEROUS (2nd of Lynch Bages), Pauillac, 2003 12 750ml $27.24 $75.18 $279.84 001479 Ch. HAUT BAGES LIBERAL, Pauillac, 2003 89-91 84-87 87-89 12 750ml $32.81 $90.57 $337.08 001481 Ch. HAUT BATAILLEY, Pauillac, 2003 87-90 87-90 90-92 12 750ml $33.44 $92.28 $343.44 001517 Ch. LACOSTE BORIE (2nd of Grand Puy Lacoste), Pauillac, 2003 12 750ml $19.19 $52.95 $197.04 001568 Ch. LAFITE ROTHSCHILD, Pauillac, 2003 12 750ml CALL CALL CALL 001556 Ch. LATOUR, Pauillac, 2003 98-100 95-100 95-98 96-100 12 750ml CALL CALL CALL 001514 Ch. LYNCH BAGES, Pauillac, 2003 88-90 92-94 87-90 90-93 12 750ml $65.63 $181.14 $674.16 001534 Ch. MOUTON ROTHSCHILD, Pauillac, 2003 95-98 95-100 91-93 93-96 12 750ml $286.56 $790.92 $2,943.60 001552 Ch. PICHON BARON, Pauillac, 2003 92-94+ 95-100 91-94 92-95 12 750ml $75.10 $207.27 $771.48 001553 Ch. PICHON BARON, Pauillac, 2003 92-94+ 95-100 91-94 92-95 12 750ml $78.10 $223.50 $836.28 001537 Ch. PICHON LALANDE, Pauillac, 2003 93-95 95-100 91-93 91-94? 12 750ml $119.38 $329.49 $1,226.28 001518 Ch. PONTET CANET, Pauillac, 2003 92-94 95-100 91-94 89-91 12 750ml $61.56 $169.92 $632.40 001562 Les FORTS de LATOUR (2nd of Latour), Pauillac, 2003 91-93 92-94 90-93 91-94 12 750ml $$58.96 162.75 $605.64 001489 Ch. Le BON PASTEUR, Pomerol, 2003 88-90 89-91 87-90 90-92 12 750ml $52.60 $145.17 $540.36 001512 VIEUX Ch. CERTAN, Pomerol, 2003 88-90 89-91 85-88 92-96? 12 750ml $85.00 $234.60 $873.12 001567 Ch. ANGELUS, St. Emilion, 2003 94-96 95-100 90-93 91-94 12 750ml $157.40 $434.43 $1,616.76 001559 Ch. CANON La GAFFELIERE, St. Emilion, 2003 87-89 92-94 89-92 92-95 12 750ml $66.66 $183.99 $684.72 001574 Ch. CHEVAL BLANC, St. Emilion, 2003 6 750ml $356.46 $983.85 $1,830.78 001451 Ch. CLOS FOURTET, St. Emilion, 2003 94-96 92-94 88-91 12 750ml $59.48 $164.16 $610.92 001547 Ch. Du CAUZE, St. Emilion, 2003 88-90 87-90 12 750ml $23.85 $65.82 $245.04 001469 Ch. FAUGERES, St. Emilion, 2003 90-93 85-88 90-92 12 750ml $29.23 $80.67 $300.24 001470 Ch. FOMBRAUGE, St. Emilion, 2003 90-92 89-91 88-91 90-92 12 750ml $29.79 $82.20 $306.00 001482 Ch. La FLEUR CARDINAL, St. Emilion, 2003 12 750ml $29.68 $81.90 $304.80 001538 Ch. La GRANDE CLOTTE, Lussac St. Emilion, 2003 88-90 12 750ml $12.65 $34.92 $129.96 001540 Ch. LAPLAGNOTTE BELLEVUE, St. Emilion, 2003 89-91 12 750ml $22.23 $61.35 $228.24 001541 Ch. LAPLAGNOTTE BELLEVUE, St. Emilion, 2003 - Half Bottles 89-91 24 375ml $12.39 $34.20 $254.40 001566 Ch. MONBOUSQUET, St. Emilion, 2003 90-92 85-88 89-92 89-91 12 750ml $55.73 $153.81 $572.40 001494 Ch. PAVIE DECESSE, St. Emilion, 2003 95-97 89-91 90-93 90-93 12 750ml $124.06 $342.42 $1,274.40 001496 Ch. PAVIE, St. Emilion, 2003 96-100 95-100 92-95 92-95 12 750ml $165.21 $456.00 $1,697.04 Bear's Score* Pack/ Case Size Bottle 3-pack Case *See Taster's Note p. 24

713-526-8787 Item # Name Parker's Score* Spectator Score* Tanzer's Score* 001497 Ch. PEBY FAUGERES, St. Emilion, 2003 89-91 88-90? 91-93 12 750ml $78.13 $215.64 $802.56 001511 Ch. TROPLONG MONDOT, St. Emilion, 2003 90-92+ 89-91 89-92 12 750ml $59.28 $163.59 $608.88 001544 Ch. TROTTEVIELLE, St. Emilion, 2003 90-92 89-91 87-89 12 750ml $53.65 $148.08 $551.04 001548 Ch. VIEUX CLOS St. EMILION, St. Emilion, 2003 87-89+ 12 750ml $19.19 $52.95 $197.04 001558 CLOS de l ORATOIRE, St. Emilion, 2003 88-91 89-91 87-89 90-92+ 12 750ml $41.78 $115.29 $429.12 001522 VIEUX Ch. St. ANDRE, St. Emilion, 2003 88-89 12 750ml $16.85 $46.50 $173.04 001575 Ch. AUSONE, St. Emilion, 2003 (6-bottle case) 6 750ml CALL CALL CALL 001543 Ch. BEAU SITE, St. Estephe, 2003 87-88 88-90 12 750ml $21.53 $59.40 $221.16 001513 Ch. CALON SEGUR, St. Estephe, 2003 94-97 92-94 92-94 92-95 12 750ml CALL CALL CALL 001532 Ch. COS d ESTOURNEL, St. Estephe, 2003 95-98 95-100 92-95 94-97 12 750ml $174.53 $499.41 $1,868.76 001454 Ch. COS LABORY, St. Estephe, 2003 87-89 89-91 87-90 86-89 12 750ml $30.63 $84.54 $314.64 001486 Ch. LAFON ROCHET, St. Estephe, 2003 89-91S 89-91 89-92 88-90 12 750ml $31.78 $87.69 $326.40 001520 Ch. MONTROSE, St. Estephe, 2003 96-100 95-100 95-98 94-97 12 750ml CALL CALL CALL 001443 Ch. BEYCHEVELLE, St. Julien, 2003 88-90 89-91 87-89 86-89 12 750ml $38.65 $106.68 $396.96 001444 Ch. BRANAIRE DUCRU, St. Julien, 2003 92-94 89-91 90-93 90-92 12 750ml $39.06 $107.82 $401.28 001564 Ch. DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU, St. Julien, 2003 93-95 92-94 90-93 91-94 12 750ml $124.06 $342.42 $1,274.40 001475 Ch. GLORIA, St. Julien, 2003 87-89S 89-91 88-90 12 750ml $29.68 $81.90 $304.80 001476 Ch. GRUAUD LAROSE, St. Julien, 2003 86-88? 95-100 86-89 90-92+ 12 750ml $47.40 $130.83 $486.84 001549 Ch. HORTEVIE, St. Julien, 2003 87-88 87-89 12 750ml $19.30 $53.28 $198.24 001551 Ch. LALANDE BORIE, St. Julien, 2003 85-88 89-91 12 750ml $20.35 $56.16 $209.04 001490 Ch. LEOVILLE BARTON, St. Julien, 2003 93-95+ 95-100 91-94 92-95 12 750ml $54.28 $149.79 $557.52 001569 Ch. LEOVILLE LAS CASES, St. Julien, 2003 12 750ml $195.94 $540.78 $2,012.64 001491 Ch. LEOVILLE POYFERRE, St. Julien, 2003 94-96 89-91 91-94 92-95 12 750ml $55.31 $152.67 $568.20 001504 Ch. SAINT PIERRE, St. Julien, 2003 90-92S 89-91 12 750ml $36.56 $100.92 $375.60 001510 Ch. TALBOT, St. Julien, 2003 88-90 92-94 86-89 90-92 12 750ml $54.69 $150.93 $561.72 001521 CLOS du MARQUIS (2nd of Leoville las Cases), St. Julien, 2003 90-92 92-94 88-91 12 750ml $44.90 $123.93 $461.16 001546 Ch. BARRET, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Blanc, 2003 12 750ml $15.10 $41.67 $155.16 001447 Ch. CARBONNIEUX, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Blanc, 2003 90-93 90-92 12 750ml $30.00 $82.80 $308.16 001528 Ch. HAUT BRION BLANC, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Blanc, 2003 95-100 94-97 6 750ml $335.63 $926.34 $1,723.80 001505 Ch. SMITH HAUT LAFITTE, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Blanc, 2003 92-94 89-91 89-91 90-92 12 750ml $49.48 $136.56 $508.20 001464 DOMAINE de CHEVALIER, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Blanc, 2003 89-92 91-93 12 750ml $70.94 $195.78 $728.64 001530 PLANTIERS DU HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan (Graves) Blanc, 2003 12 750ml $38.03 $104.94 $390.60 001441 Ch. BASTOR LAMONTAGNE, Sauternes, 2003 91-93 12 750ml $27.35 $75.48 $280.92 001442 Ch. BASTOR LAMONTAGNE, Sauternes, 2003 - Half Bottles 91-93 24 375ml $14.94 $41.22 $306.96 001445 Ch. BROUSTET, Barsac, 2003 90-92 12 750ml $28.53 $78.72 $293.04 001467 Ch. BROUSTET, Barsac, 2003 - Half Bottles 90-92 24 375ml $15.51 $42.81 $318.72 001450 Ch. CLIMENS, Barsac, 2003 - Half Bottles 24 375ml $45.31 $125.07 $930.96 001452 Ch. CLOS HAUT PEYRAGUEY, Sauternes, 2003 90-92 12 750ml $44.28 $122.19 $454.80 001453 Ch. CLOS HAUT PEYRAGUEY, Sauternes, 2003 - Half Bottles 90-92 24 375ml $23.39 $64.56 $480.48 001455 Ch. COUTET, Sauternes, 2003 90-92 12 750ml $42.81 $118.17 $439.80 001456 Ch. COUTET, Sauternes, 2003 - Half Bottles 90-92 24 375ml $22.66 $62.55 $465.60 001457 Ch. D ARCHE, Sauternes, 2003 88-90 12 750ml $33.85 $93.42 $347.76 001458 Ch. D ARCHE, Sauternes, 2003 - Half Bottles 88-90 24 375ml $18.18 $50.16 $373.44 001573 Ch. d YQUEM, Sauternes, 2003 24 375ml $146.85 $420.21 $3,144.72 001572 Ch. d YQUEM, Sauternes, 2003 12 750ml $293.70 $840.42 $3,144.84 001460 Ch. de FARGUES, Sauternes, 2003 91-94 12 750ml $63.54 $175.35 $652.68 001461 Ch. de FARGUES, Sauternes, 2003 - Half Bottles 91-94 24 375ml $33.03 $91.14 $678.48 001462 Ch. de MALLE, Sauternes, 2003 88-90 12 750ml $46.35 $127.92 $476.16 001463 Ch. de MALLE, Sauternes, 2003 - Half Bottles 88-90 24 375ml $24.43 $67.41 $501.84 001471 Ch. FILHOT, Sauternes, 2003 90-92 12 750ml $30.31 $83.67 $311.40 001472 Ch. FILHOT, Sauternes, 2003 - Half Bottles 90-92 24 375ml $16.41 $45.30 $337.20 001477 Ch. GUIRAUD, Sauternes, 2003 89-91 12 750ml $50.53 $139.44 $519.00 001478 Ch. GUIRAUD, Sauternes, 2003 - Half Bottles 89-91 24 375ml $26.51 $73.17 $544.56 001485 Ch. LAFAURIE PEYRAGUEY, Sauternes, 2003 91-94 12 750ml $46.98 $129.66 $482.52 001487 Ch. LATOUR BLANCHE, Sauternes, 2003 91-94 12 750ml $45.94 $126.78 $471.84 001488 Ch. LATOUR BLANCHE, Sauternes, 2003 - Half Bottles 91-94 24 375ml $22.98 $63.42 $472.08 001492 Ch. LIOT, Sauternes, 2003 90-92 12 750ml $22.69 $62.61 $233.04 001493 Ch. LIOT, Sauternes, 2003 - Half Bottles 90-92 24 375ml $12.63 $34.86 $259.44 001501 Ch. RAYMOND LAFON, Sauternes, 2003 - Half Bottles 24 375ml $35.10 $96.87 $721.20 001502 Ch. RIEUSSEC, Sauternes, 2003 91-94 12 750ml $50.53 $139.44 $519.00 001503 Ch. RIEUSSEC, Sauternes, 2003 - Half Bottles 91-94 24 375ml $26.51 $73.17 $544.56 001508 Ch. SUDUIRAUT, Sauternes, 2003 89-92 12 750ml $54.69 $150.93 $561.72 001509 Ch. SUDUIRAUT, Sauternes, 2003 - Half Bottles 89-92 24 375ml $27.35 $75.48 $561.84 Bear's Score* Pack/ Case Size Bottle 3-pack Case *See Taster's Note p. 24

www.specsonline.com Parker's Score* Spectator Score* Item # Name BORDEAUX APELLATIONS Pack Size Bottle 3-pack Case 1438 Ch. PUYGERAUD, Cotes de Francs, 2002 85-88 87-89 12 750ml $16.35 $45.12 $168.00 1439 Ch. THEIULEY CLASSIC (ROUGE), Bordeaux, 2002 86-88 12 750ml $7.50 $20.70 $77.04 COTES de CASTILLON 1411 Ch. AMPELIA, Cotes de Castillon, 2002 88-90 12 750ml $13.94 $38.46 $143.16 1396 Ch. d'aiguilhe, Cotes de Castillon, 2002 88-90 89-91 89-91 12 750ml $20.35 $56.16 $209.04 MARGAUX 1386 Ch. MARGAUX, Margaux, 2002 91-93 92-94 94-96 12 750ml $119.38 $329.49 $1,226.28 1405 Ch. PALMER, Margaux, 2002 93-95 92-94 91-94 12 750ml $80.84 $223.11 $830.40 1409 Ch. RAUZAN SEGLA, Margaux, 2002 89-91 90-93 12 750ml $45.94 $126.78 $471.84 1388 PAVILLON ROUGE du Ch. MARGAUX (2nd vin), Margaux, 2002 85-88 90-92 12 750ml $33.85 $93.42 $347.76 PAUILLAC 1370 CARRUADES de Ch. LAFITE (2nd vin), Pauillac, 2002 90-92 12 750ml $33.85 $93.42 $347.76 1412 Ch. BATAILLEY, Pauillac, 2002 85-88 88-90 12 750ml $25.14 $69.39 $258.24 1371 Ch. CLERC MILON, Pauillac, 2002 90-92 89-91 90-92 12 750ml $31.98 $88.26 $328.44 1397 Ch. d'armailhac, Pauillac, 2002 91-93 85-88 90-92 12 750ml $25.03 $69.06 $257.04 1374 Ch. DUHART MILON, Pauillac, 2002 88-90 85-88 88-90 12 750ml $26.89 $74.22 $276.24 1401 Ch. GRAND PUY LACOSTE, Pauillac, 2002 85-87 85-88 90-92 12 750ml $34.48 $95.16 $354.12 1376 Ch. HAUT BAGES LIBERAL, Pauillac, 2002 89-91 88-90 12 750ml $22.69 $62.61 $233.04 1402 Ch. HAUT BATAILLEY, Pauillac, 2002 89-91 89-91 12 750ml $25.03 $69.06 $257.04 1381 Ch. LAFITE ROTHSCHILD, Pauillac, 2002 94-96 95-100 94-96 12 750ml $119.38 $329.49 $1,226.28 1421 Ch. LATOUR, Pauillac, 2002 95-98 92-94 96-99 12 750ml $124.90 $344.73 $1,282.92 1387 Ch. MOUTON ROTHSCHILD, Pauillac, 2002 94-96 95-100 93-95 12 750ml $119.38 $329.49 $1,226.28 1408 Ch. PICHON BARON, Pauillac, 2002 89-91 92-94 91-94 12 750ml $47.40 $130.83 $486.84 1389 Ch. PICHON LALANDE, Pauillac, 2002 92-94 92--94 91-94 12 750ml $54.79 $151.20 $562.80 1419 Les FORTS de LATOUR (2nd vin), Pauillac, 2002 89-91 90-92 12 750ml $42.19 $116.43 $433.32 PESSAC LEOGNAN and GRAVES (Rouge) 1368 Ch. BAHANS HAUT BRION (2nd vin), Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2002 85-88 89-91 12 750ml $34.79 $96.00 $357.36 1377 Ch. HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2002 92-94 95-100 94-97 12 750ml $119.38 $329.49 $1,226.28 1380 Ch. la MISSION HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2002 89-92 92-94 91-94 12 750ml $87.50 $241.50 $898.80 1383 Ch. LATOUR HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2002 89-91 90-92 12 750ml $41.15 $113.58 $422.64 1406 Ch. PAPE CLEMENT, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2002 91-93 85-88 91-93 12 750ml $61.56 $169.92 $632.40 1379 La CHAPELLE de la MISSION HAUT BRION (2nd vin), Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2002 85-88 90-82 12 750ml $26.19 $72.27 $269.04 POMEROL 1435 Ch. Le PIN, Pomerol, 2002 (3 bottles per case) 3 750ml $816.66 $2,100.00 1436 Ch. PETRUS, Pomerol, 2002 (6 bottles per case) 90-93 92-94 6 750ml $554.16 $1,529.49 $2,846.16 1410 VIEUX CHATEAU CERTAN, Pomerol, 2002 92-94 92-95 12 750ml $71.46 $197.25 $734.04 ST. EMILION 1392 Ch. AUSONE, St. Emilion (6 bottles per case), 2002 94-96 92-94 93-95 6 750ml $200.10 $552.27 $1,027.74 1369 Ch. CANON LA GAFFELIERE, St. Emilion, 2002 90-92 89-91 91-94 12 750ml $49.48 $136.56 $508.20 1395 Ch. CLOS SAINT MARTIN, St. Emilion, 2002 89-91 89-91 12 750ml $41.78 $115.29 $429.12 1399 Ch. FAUGERES, St. Emilion, 2002 87-89 85-88 88-90 12 750ml $21.64 $59.73 $222.24 1414 Ch. La GRANDE CLOTTE, Lussac St. Emilion, 2002 86-88 12 750ml $11.84 $32.67 $121.56 1415 Ch. LAPLAGNOTTE BELLEVUE, St. Emilion, 2002 89-91 12 750ml $18.03 $49.74 $185.16 1403 Ch. MONBOUSQUET, St. Emilion, 2002 90-92 89-91 90-92 12 750ml $61.04 $168.45 $627.00 1407 Ch. PAVIE MACQUIN, St. Emilion, 2002 89-91 89-91 90-92 12 750ml $33.96 $93.75 $348.84 1417 Ch. VIEUX CLOS St. EMILION, St. Emilion, 2002 88-90 12 750ml $16.98 $46.86 $174.36 1416 VIEUX Ch. St. ANDRE, Montagne St. Emilion, 2002 87-89 12 750ml $14.88 $41.07 $152.76 ST. ESTEPHE 1391 Ch. CALON SEGUR, St. Estephe, 2002 89-91 92-94 88-90 12 750ml $35.94 $99.18 $369.12 1372 Ch. COS d'estournel, St. Estephe, 2002 92-94 95-100 93-95 12 750ml $66.25 $182.85 $680.52 1424 Ch. COS d'estournel, St. Estephe, 2002 92-94 95-100 93-95 12 750ml $68.75 $189.75 $706.20 1404 Ch. MONTROSE, St. Estephe, 2002 89-91 89-91 91-93 12 750ml $45.94 $126.78 $471.84 1425 Ch. MONTROSE, St. Estephe, 2002 89-91 89-91 91-93 12 750ml $50.00 $138.00 $513.60 ST. JULIEN 1393 Ch. BEYCHEVELLE, St. Julien, 2002 87-88 89-91 12 750ml $29.68 $81.90 $304.80 1398 Ch. DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU, St. Julien, 2002 86-88 89-91 91-93 12 750ml $52.19 $144.03 $536.04 1400 Ch. GLORIA, St. Julien, 2002 86-87 85-88 86-88 12 750ml $22.80 $62.94 $234.24 1428 Ch. GRUAUD LAROSE, St. Julien, 2002 88-90 89-91 89-91 12 750ml $39.06 $107.82 $401.28 1413 Ch. HORTEVIE, St. Julien, 2002 88-90 12 750ml $18.03 $49.74 $185.16 1384 Ch. LEOVILLE BARTON, St. Julien, 2002 90-92 89-91 91-93 12 750ml $40.73 $112.41 $418.32 1385 Ch. LEOVILLE POYFERRE, St. Julien, 2002 92-94 89-91 91-93 12 750ml $35.53 $98.04 $364.92 PESSAC LEOGNAN and GRAVES (Blanc) 1390 1378 PLANTIERS de HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2002 Ch. HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan Blanc 90-92 12 750ml $29.79 $82.20 $306.00 (6 bottles per case), 2002 6 750ml $190.21 $525.00 $976.9 SAUTERNES and BARSAC 1394 Ch. CLIMENS, Barsac, 2002 92-94 91-94 12 375ml $33.44 $92.28 $343.44 Bear's Score* Take NOTE To receive our most updated futures offerings, please call us at 713-526-8787 or visit us on the Web at www.specsonline.com. We offer futures pricing on cases, three-packs, and individual bottles. Unless otherwise noted, all prices are for cases of 12x750ml bottles. Some prices rise because a particular wine got hot and we had to buy more of it on a second or third offering at higher prices. These price changes are included in the updated lists. Prices charged at the time of your order will be taken from the most recent list. We will fax you an updated list anytime you request one. Spec s cannot guarantee an arrival date for any particular wine. As always, all prices indicated in this offer include a 5% discount for cash. All orders are accepted subject to availability and confirmation. All wines are offered on a firstcome, first-served basis. Some wines are available only in extremely limited quantities. Spec s reserves the right to limit quantities. *See Taster's Note p. 24

www.specsonline.com source: www.bordeaux.com

www.specsonline.com No matter who you are or how dispassionate you are in looking at wine, if you keep tasting and drinking you develop some favorites. Maybe you figure out that you like a particular region or chateau or the work of a particular winemaker. Maybe you do or don t like mostly Cabernet Sauvignon or mostly Merlot. Whatever the key is, you find some favorites wines you appreciate from vintage to vintage and in which you consistently find enjoyment. I ve been tasting and drinking Bordeaux for long enough now to have developed quite a few favorites. Actually, they are more than mere favorites; many of these properties have become old friends. With little regard to vintage, here is my take on them. Ch. Cos d Estournel is a second growth from St. Estephe that until 1997 was always in the vanguard of the best of the so called super seconds. With the 1997 vintage, owner/winemaker Bruno Prats retired and sold out. His son Jean Guillaume Prats took over with a contract from the new owner. The 1997, 1998, 1999, and, to a lesser extent, 2000 Cos d Estournel were not bad wines but they did not live up to the reputation and prices of the winery. During this time, when you asked Jean Guillaume a question, the answer was likely to start with My father does this. It was only a matter of time; Jean Guillaume Prats broke through in 2001 with an excellent wine that was better than his fine 2000. Then his 2002 topped the 2001. Now the 2003 has topped them both and may be the best Cos d Estournel ever. Cos is on a roll. (Now when you ask about the wines or the winemaking, Jean Guillaume says I did ). He has confidence now and it shows in the wines. The last three vintages have each gained in elegance, finesse and perfume. Cos is not a blockbuster; rather it is an elegant, almost ethereal wine with a lovely tobacco and black fruit perfume, a hint of Asian spice, and great developmental potential. The second wine of Ch. Cos d Estournel is Les Pagodes de Cos. By the way, the s in Cos is pronounced. Cos is a Medocaine (the old language of the Medoc) word for hill. Cos famous neighbors to the south Lafite and Mouton are on the next two hill tops and both reference their location in their names. Lafite actually comes from the conjunction of two words: la hite (the height). Mouton is a pun on mountain and mutton (Pauillac s other famous crop after wine is lamb). Ch. Montrose (St. Estephe) and Ch. Beaumont (Haut Medoc) have always sold well in the Houston area if only due to their geographically familiar names. Montrose has the additional advantages of being both a top-flight property and St. Estephe s other second growth (with Cos d Estournel). While Cos d Estournel was in its slump, Ch. Montrose was producing excellent wines in a bigger and richer style from vineyards on the gently sloping plain that looks across the Gironde estuary to the nuclear power plant in Blaye. That terroir yields wines with richness and spice (sometimes Asian spice like Cos) and even a bit of earthiness to go along with the very ripe black fruit and subtle tobacco and spice character. Montrose at its best is deep and satisfying. Le Dame de Montrose is the second wine of Ch. Montrose.

713-526-8787 The beautiful chateau of Cos d Estournel. It is widely known that Cos's first harvests were sold in India, where the wines graced the sumptuous tables of Maharajahs and Nabobs. The famous Pagodas which surmount Cos's cellars and door, sent from the palace of Zanzibar, symbolize this pioneering break out into the world trade. It took me awhile to learn to appreciate Pauillac first growth Ch. Lafite. Due to its weightless, even ethereal style, Ch. Lafite is difficult to evaluate young. As Lafite ages, it turns into that something so special that it can sit atop the Bordeaux pyramid with Latour, Margaux, Cheval Blanc, and Haut Brion. It took me a few years to see the path from point A to point B. Lafite is all about elegance and perfume, subtlety and integration. Nothing sticks out and everything fits. Lafite is not a blockbuster but it doesn t lack power; it is just seamlessly integrated. The fruit is red and black and the perfume ranges across berries, tobacco, tea, berry liqueur, and gravelly-minerally earth. The second wine of Ch. Lafite is Carruades de Lafite. Leading first growth Ch. Latour is one of the three most consistently great properties in Bordeaux. I ve never tasted a Latour I didn t enjoy and that includes some notorious vintages such as 1991. In great years, Ch. Latour is the blockbuster monster of the Medoc. In good years, it is still big and typical but director Frederic Engerer has the good sense and the finesse to scale it back so the wine fits the vintage. He makes the best Latour possible with what each vintage gives him while still being true to Latour. Latour is all about black fruit and ripeness with layers and layers of complexity from the fruit and soils and oak. I usually find black fruit, pencil shavings, tobacco, minerals, and subtle but present oak. When very young, the wines can have an almost painful intensity. When developed, Latour is sublime, rich, and endlessly fascinating to drink. Ch. Latour commercializes three wines: the Grand Vin de Ch. Latour, a second wine called Les Forts de Latour, and a third wine labeled Pauillac. Les Forts de Latour and Pavillon Rouge du Ch. Margaux are the best of the second wines of Bordeaux. Some Bordeaux aficionados refer to Les Forts as a second wine masquerading as a second growth. That s actually not far from the truth. Latour s Pauillac is more the equivalent of most other properties second wines. Both offer earlier drinking glimpses of the majesty of Latour at substantially lower prices. Tasting at first growth Ch. Mouton also brings tastes of fifth growth fellow Pauillacs d Armailhac and Clerc Milon. All three are owned by Philippine Rothschild, daughter of the late Baron Philippe Rothschild. Mouton is usually a great ripe blockbuster of a wine that many tasters say (continued p. 20)

www.specsonline.com Steve Reynolds is best known as a producer of great Cabernet Sauvignon under the Reynolds and Gneiss labels. He also has a deft hand with Pinot Noir, making large scale wines in a uniquely American, decidely non-burgundian style that emphasizes fruit and power without sacrificing elegance and complexity. These are lovely, pleasurefilled Pinots. REYNOLDS FAMILY WINERY Pinot Noir, Carneros, 2002 $43.68 btl $486.77 case 12x750ml This is a big, fuller-bodied, rich style of Pinot Noir that emphasizes dark cherry fruit accented with notes of cola, cedar, and spice with hints of mixed berry (ripe raspberries?) perfume. The texture and feel in the mouth are incredible. The wine is still developing and opens beautifully in the glass. For at least the next few months, this will benefit from being splashed into a decanter and lots of swirling in the glass. Excellent. Bear s Score: 94 points. REYNOLDS FAMILY WINERY Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, 2002 $43.68 btl $486.77 case 12x750ml Another full-bodied Pinot Noir from Reynolds, this Russian River Valley winner offers ripe black cherry fruit with perfume from cherry and berry liqueur and violets. There is a richness of dark earth and chocolate with balancing mineral and cola notes. It is a very large scale Pinot with a lovely rich texture and succulent feel in the mouth. Long and alive, it develops for as long as you sip it. Delicious. Really Excellent. Bear s Score: 95 points. CH. MONTELENA Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2000 $28.25 btl $311.02 case 12x750ml This Montelena Cabernet is a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon from near Calistoga and 20% Merlot from the Big Ranch Road area in the cooler southern part of Napa Valley aged in 20% new oak barrels. The So resulting wine is a spicy, ripe, juicy Cabernet packed with ripe dark berry Cab fruit accented with exotic spice, perfume, a hint of cherry and plum, and an herbal note between tea and tobacco. It is elegant, balanced, and complete. Excellent. Bear's Score: 93 points. (Please note: this is not the Ch. Montelena "Estate Bottled" Cabernet that sells for over twice this price. Nevertheless, this is a super bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet at a very good price.) CH. MONTELENA "30th Vintage" Chardonnay Napa Valley, 2001 $26.49 btl $291.57 case 12x750ml This night-picked (for cooler grapes and juice) 100% Chardonnay that was 71% "whole cluster" pressed undergoes no malolactic fermentation and gets only 15% new oak. The result is a decidedly age worthy, very focused Chardonnay that actually tastes of Chardonnay fruit with clean banana, pear, lime, and peach notes well integrated with a fine mineral component and just enough subtle oak to add structure without obscuring the fruit. Fine precise feel in the mouth. Lots of character. The finish lingers on and on. Very drinkable now but this is the rare California Chardonnay that will improve with aging for up to ten years. Excellent. Bear's Score: 92 points.

713-526-8787 It is "not very often" that you walk into a Bordeaux negociant's office in Bordeaux and see a bottle of California wine, but that is just what happened when, on March 31st, I walked into the offices of Belland et Meneret and saw two bottles of l'aventure Optimus. It was there that I learned that Stephan Asseo had been the owner and winemaker at the highly regarded Domaine de Courteillac in Bordeaux for fifteen years before selling out and moving to Paso Robles in California. Asseo's Bordeaux connections and financial partnership with M. Belland assure that people in Bordeaux are interested. People in Houston should be too. Asseo has broken free of the restraints of Bordeaux's AOC system and has embraced both the grapes and the place of Paso Robles. Now, instead of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, Asseo works with Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah and Zinfandel and Petite Verdot and Petite Sirah, all often together in one wine. The result - ripe new world fruit and flavor informed by an old world sense of balance and structure - is alive in the glass and in the mouth. L'Aventure is the primary label from this property. Stephan Ridge is a second label reserved for good, earlier drinking wines that don't quite make the cut for the l'aventure wines. The stunning, top-of-the-line l'aventure Estate Cuvee, Paso Robles, 2001 has sold out. Be on the lookout for the excellent-to-outstanding 2002 and the L'Aventure Zinfandel 2001 due to arrive in the coming months. STEPHAN RIDGE, PASO ROBLES, 2001 $21.16 btl $235.73 case 12x750ml A still very young blend of 70% Syrah and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 13 months in secondand-third-use French oak barrels and bottled unfined with a light filtration, this shows ripe black raspberry and blueberry fruit with notes of spicy pepper and dark flowers. Like its big brothers, it is slow to open but well worth the wait (and swirling). It comes alive in the glass. Excellent. Bear's Score: 91 points. L'AVENTURE OPTIMUS RED PASO ROBLES, 2001 $34.88 btl $384.02 case 12x750ml A 15.4 % alcohol blend of 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Syrah, 3% Petit Verdot and 5% Zinfandel aged 15 month in 100% new French oak barrels and bottled unfiltered and unfined, this is still very young but is beginning to open up nicely. The fruit is chunky blackberry and red and black raspberry accented with complexity from cedar, tobacco, and pepper. Chewy with grapey fresh berry tannins, it is a bit rough but not at all inelegant. This is a huge wine that needs time to open up; it will benefit from a rough decanting. Excellent. Bear's Score: 92+ points. L'AVENTURE OPTIMUS RED PASO ROBLES, 2000 $38.85 btl $427.71 case 12x750ml A blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Syrah, 5% Petit Verdot and 5% Zinfandel aged 15 month in 100% new French oak barrels and bottled unfiltered and unfined, this is rich and ripe with real weight and depth. Packed with well integrated dark fruit in the black cherry, black berry, black raspberry range with exotic spice and tobacco nuances, the flavors go on and on. Chewy, juicy, and rich, it has a lovely feel in the mouth. As big as it is, it remains somehow elegant. This is exciting wine. Excellent. Bear's Score: 93 points. L'AVENTURE ESTATE SYRAH PASO ROBLES, 2001 $38.63 btl $430.37 case 12x750ml 100% Syrah aged in 100% new French oak barrels for 15 months, this is a juicy ripe, spicy, almost lush Syrah offering black fruit that leans toward ripe black raspberry with lots of other ripe berry and cherry nuance along with notes of earth and mixed white and black pepper and a hint of coffee grounds. It has a lovely texture and rich fine feel. Excellent. Bear's Score: 91 points. ZD Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, Napa Valley 2000 $96.99 btl $537.62 case 6x750ml Only 700 cases were produced of this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged almost three years in toasted American oak barrels. It is a rich dusty-juicy cabernet offering lots of black fruit with a nice cedar and tobacco complexity. The fruit and oak are integrating nicely. Medium-weight and elegant, the wine has a lovely texture and feel. This one has really come together over the last 6-8 months. Quite satisfying. Excellent. Bear's Score: 94 points.

www.specsonline.com Achaval-Ferrer is a small red-wine-only producer in Mendoza Argentina focusing exclusively on estate grown old-vine fruit. Partners Santiago Achaval and Manuel Ferrer Minetti have purchased four vineyards in differ ferent ent areas of Mendoza with old vines on them producing Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Syrah. The estate's average yield is 1.3-tons-per-acre (as opposed to over 3-tons-per-acr -acre for many boutique California producers). Santiago Achaval says that the vineyards make the wines and that the winemaker's job is to express ess the character of their old vine fruit into the bottle. If Achaval-Ferrer's er's "Quimera" may be thought of as an ultimate expression ession of the whole of Mendoza terroir, the single vineyard Altamira Malbec is the expression ession of one very old vineyard. ACHAVAL-FERRER Quimera, Mendoza, 2001 ACHAVAL-FERRER Altamira Malbec, Mendoza, 2001 $33.50 btl $186.56 case 6x750ml $72.31 btl $402.88 case 6x750ml Quimera is a blend of 54% old vine Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% old Made from 100% Malbec produced by 80+ year old vines grown vine Malbec, and 22% Merlot (most of the grapes are from the estate on their own roots (ungrafted) in the famous la Consulta area but some come from vineyards under long term lease) aged in 90% aged in all new oak barrels (95% French and 5% American), this French and 10% American oak barrels (1/3 new). The result is a is a serious, perfumed, juicy-ripe Malbec. Beautifully integrated dusty, rich, balanced red offering ample black fruit with notes of and absolutely complete, it is succulent with grapey black fruit tobacco, dust, pencil-shavings, and Malbec spice. Deeply flavorful, it balanced by notes of tobacco, dust, and pencil shavings with a lingers in the mouth with fruit and dust to the end. In the glass, it perfume that rises through it offering cedar, vanilla, and slowly opens to reveal its perfume. Elegant, medium weight, potpourri. It lasts and lasts with a lovely feel in the mouth. Truly balanced and complete. Excellent. Bear's Score: 94 points. delicious. Outstanding. Bear's Score: 96+ points. After a few years of up-and-down quality, it seems that, with the 2002 vintage, Bouchaine has once again become a reliable producer of fine quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from their vineyard on Buchli Station Road in Carneros. Part of that renaissance is due to the introduction of a value-priced second wine Buchli Station with a colorful "lettuce box art" label that lets Bouchaine blend some of the better (and still very good) juice that doesn't make the cut to be in the Bouchaine labeled wines. BOUCHAINE Chardonnay, Carneros, 2002 $15.13 btl $166.50 case 12x750ml 100% Chardonnay fermented and aged in a mix of mostly French oak barrels (33% new), this is a minerally, well-focused, nicely balanced Chardonnay with good cool climate fruit showing notes of pineapple, sweet lemon, tropical lime, and pomegranate. It is very clean with a minerally terroir character. Almost Puligny-like. Excellent. Bear's Score: 91 points. BOUCHAINE Pinot Noir, Carneros, 2002 $15.75 btl $175.50 case 12x750ml 100% Pinot Noir aged 12 months in French oak barrels (approximately 40% new) results in a medium-weight Pinot featuring ripe red cherry fruit with notes of cocoa and earth and a hint of bitter cola nut. Very nicely balanced with a fine fresh feel. The fine fruit and perfume linger on. Excellent. Bear's Score: 91 points. BUCHLI STATION Chardonnay, California, 2002 $10.15 btl $111.75 case 12x750ml A blend of grapes from Bouchaine's estate and from vineyards in Monterey and Edna Valley fermented in oak barrels (30% new) with a partial malolactic fermentation, this wine is flavorful, even rich, but in balance and well-focused with notes of tropical fruit, lime, and green pear. It is alive in the mouth with a long, clean finish. Fine. Bear's Score: 89+ points. BUCHLI STATION Pinot Noir, California, 2002 $10.15 btl $111.75 case 12x750ml 100% Pinot Noir fermented in small open top fermenters and aged eight months in a mix of French, US, and Hungarian oak barrels yields this mix of red and black cherry fruit with notes of cola, earth, and spice. Hints at raspberry and cranberry. Medium-weight and in balance. Lasts nicely with a bit of chewiness at the end. Fine. Bear's Score: 88+ points.

713-526-8787 pictured below Chalone Chardonnay: Fog over Salinas Valley Winemaker Dan Karlsen Chalone is located in a natural bowl at 1700 feet on the western slope of Mount Chalone in the Gavilan Range above Monterey County's Salinas Valley. That unique location gives Chalone the thin, well-drained limestone-based soils, ample sunlight, and fairly cool temperatures that combine to create an almost ideal terroir for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Although Chalone has been a long time performer with a strong reputation, the current releases are the best young wines I've tasted from Chalone. They are delicious now and show the balance and acidity needed CHALONE Chardonnay to improve with more time in Chalone AVA (Monterey) 2002 the bottle. $22.99 btl $256.10 case 12x750ml Harvested at 27 brix, this Chalone was barrel fermented and aged in French oak (30% new). 90% went through malolactic fermentation. The result of winemaker Dan Karlsen's technique and grapes from Chalone's unique terroir is the best Chalone Chardonnay ever. It is a vibrant juicy absolutely alive Chardonnay full of fruit but in thrilling balance. It offers a lively beam of tree fruit, pomegranate, and tropical fruit with a hint of minerally green banana. With great focus and a fine feel, it offers excellent fruit and texture in a thrilling balance. Super long, it stays vibrant to the end. Delicious and elegant. Really Excellent. Bear's Score: 94+ points. CHALONE Pinot Noir, Chalone AVA (Monterey), 2001 $19.75 btl $219.96 case 12x750ml Harvested at 28 brix, this Chalone Pinot Noir was fermented in open top punch down tanks and aged 10 months in French oak barrels (30% new). With all that, winemaker Dan Karlsen has made a lovely, well-integrated, complete Pinot Noir featuring fine mixed ripe red and black cherry fruit with notes of cola nut and black pepper and a subtle earthy-mineral terroir character. It is ripe and in balance with ample flavor and a fine feel in the mouth; good weight and a lovely, almost ethereal texture. The long finish offers perfume to the end. Delicious. This is a breakout wine. Excellent. Bear's Score: 92 points. CONDE de VELÁZQUEZ Chardonnay, Aconcagua Valley, 2002 $4.99 btl $56.39 case 12x750ml This balanced, flavorful Chardonnay shows good fruit and oak notes on the nose but the oak drops back and the ripe pear and lime fruit takes over in the mouth with a tell-tale hint of banana and a touch of bitter lime peel. A note of oak and some richness come back in on the finish. Clean and balanced, it is a very nice drink. Very Good. Bear's Score: 86 points. CONDE de VELÁZQUEZ Cabernet Sauvignon, Aconcagua Valley, 2002 4.99 btl $56.39 case 12x750ml $ Here's a very fruit-oriented Cabernet with ripe grapey Cabby fruit balanced with some oak and cedar and dusty earth notes and a hint of herbs. It is in balance and flavorful with a nice texture and a clean finish. Very Good. Bear's Score: 85+ points. CONDE de VELÁZQUEZ Merlot, Aconcagua Valley, 2002 $4.99 btl $56.39 case 12x750ml This is a ripe, balanced, black cherry fruit-oriented Merlot made very much in the new fruit-forward California style (a la Blackstone and Bogle). It is smooth and supple in the mouth with plenty of sweet fruit and a juicy-fresh texture. Very tasty and quite accessible; almost glugable. Very Good. Bear's Score: 86+ points. Sometimes I'll taste through a line of wines and decide I like the cheaper wines in the line better than the fancier, higher priced wines in the line. This is often because the cheap wines show little or no effect from oak barrels. This allows the fruit to shine while the fancier blends may be overoaked so the fruit is all but obscured. Such is the case with the Conde de Velázquez wines from the Aconcagua Valley in Chile. I bought the basic Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot but turned down the fancier midlevel stuff. They were OK... but the cheaper wines tasted better and offered much more value. We'll taste the upper-tier wines soon.

Due to some of the same strange market dynamics that allow for sub-$10 Napa Cabernet, we currently have great deals on two great Beringer Cabernets: the outstanding 1999 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and the Excellent 2001 Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. BERINGER Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 1999 $58.99 btl $353.94 case 6x750ml This is an elegant, medium-weight, well-balanced, beautifully perfumed Cabernet featuring lovely dark berry and cherry fruit with complexity from tobacco and cedar. Succulent and delicious with a lovely feel in the mouth, the wine is complete and perfectly integrated; everything fits. Deep, flavorful, and absolutely alive through the long perfumed finish, it is quite elegant and even ethereal. For me at least, it pushes all the right buttons. Outstanding. Bear s Score: 96+ points. BERINGER Cabernet Sauvignon, Knights Valley, 2000 $13.99 btl $167.88 case 12x750ml 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from Knights Valley, this well-balanced, medium-weight red shows red and black cherry and dark berry fruit with dusty oak and sweet spice notes and hints of potpourri, tobacco, and cedar. The texture and feel are dusty dry. The dry finish lingers with oak dust and sweet berry perfume to the end. Excellent. Bear's Score: 91 points. 96+ points by Lindy Rydman Sonoma California doing what we like best: enjoying food and wine. The day was simply beautiful with a light, cool breeze. We, and a group of wine retailers from around the country were the guests of Joy Sterling and Forrest Tancer, the owners and wine maker for Iron Horse Vineyards. We were met with a glass of Iron Horse Brut, a light, crisp sparkling wine that went down easily in the spring sun... While sipping our bubbly we were shown around the winery. I don t think I could ever see too many wine vats, crusher destemmer machines or barrels. The atmosphere of a winery with that musky smell is one of the things that can transport you to a different level. It evokes a romance between the earth, the fruit and the wine, and you find yourself somehow involved with the whole process. It s very mystical. After the tour, Joy came up to each of us with two baskets filled with corks. The women drew from one basket, and the men drew a cork from the second basket. The corks had numbers written on them. We didn t know what this was for until we went to the tables that had been set up for lunch. At each place, there was another cork with a number on it. To find our seats we had to match the numbers. It was really an ingenious way to seat people. Each table had bottles of wine, opened and ready for us. Iron Horse Cuvee R, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier was my favorite. Perhaps it was the dedication to Forrest s mother on the back label that drew me on Mother s Day. Or perhaps it was the delicious taste that did it. It was light and clean with a smooth finish that went especially well with our salad of fresh fava beans lightly dressed with olive oil and Parmesan cheese. The Cuvee R would be great for a party wine because it s equally good with or without food. The Iron Horse Chardonnay was our second choice of white wines. This Chardonnay is rich and luscious, but fresh enough to go with a salad. Again, this wine is easy to drink and would be good with a variety of foods. Iron Horse Brut Sparkling 1998 750 ml $22.29 Iron Horse Cuvee R 2001 750 ml $17.33 Iron Horse Chardonnay 2000 750 ml $19.75 Iron Horse Estate Bottled Pinot Noir 2000 750 ml $24.31 Grilled Kobe beef with boiled potatoes and arugula dressed with truffle oil and garlic followed the salad course. The Iron Horse Estate Bottled Pinot Noir was perfect with it. Deep purple in color with a satiny finish, you could smell black cherries and exotic spices. It s a truly elegant wine without being fussy or too highfalutin'. We whiled away the afternoon enjoying the company of our hosts. It was a glorious day.

713-526-8787 By Charles M. Bear Dalton Do your reds have a fever? Do your whites have the chills? I've said it before and I'll say it again: wine tastes better when it is served at the right temperature. So what's the right temperature? It is NOT room temperature for reds and refrigerator temperature for whites. At typical Houston summer room temperatures (75-78 ), red wines feel warm and the alcohol dominates the aromatics. At typical refrigerator temperature (34-38 ), white wines (and rose and Champagne) are too cold to release much in the way of aroma and flavor. Red wines should always be served at cellar temperature (55-60 ). At 60, the fruit aromas are able to show their best and the alcohol is muted. The wines both taste better and feel better in the mouth. This is particularly important with today's higher alcohol, riper-style red wines. It is much better to serve reds a little bit too cool rather than any bit too warm. They will gradually (or in Houston in the summer maybe not so gradually) warm up in "room temperature" surroundings. By the same token, white wines should be removed from the refrigerator and allowed to warm up a bit so that they are in the 45-48 range when they are served. That ten degrees makes all the difference in the world as to the flavors and aromatics of a white wine and how the wine feels in the mouth. I can think of no wine I'd ever intentionally serve colder than 45. A rich, full-bodied Chardonnay from California or Burgundy might even be better served as warm as 55 (the minimum temperature for serving red wines). Knowing the right temperature and serving the wines at the right temperature are two different things. So how do you get the wines to the right temperature? The best way is to have temperature controlled wine storage. It doesn't have to be a wine room or closet or even an armoir-sized unit. There are 24 and 30 bottle units available that are smaller than a dishwasher. Once you get used to having one of these and serving your wines at the right temperature, you'll wonder how you ever made it without one. If temperature controlled storage is not practical for you, there are other ways. Cool reds off quickly by decanting them into a glass carafe you keep in the freezer. The frozen carafe will quickly cool the wine which can then be poured from the carafe into glasses. It is a good idea to keep a plastic bag over the open end of the carafe with a rubber band to keep it sealed to keep any "off" aromas from accumulating in the carafe. Also, plastic ice cubes added to a glass of already poured too-warm red will get things back in order without diluting the wine. Unfortunately, refrigerator temperature whites just take a while to warm up. One piece of good news is that they do warm up faster in the glass than they do in the bottle. If they get too warm too soon, just add a couple of the aforementioned plastic ice cubes and you are set. If you follow this advice, your wines will taste better and be more refreshing. You'll be drinking better and enjoying your wine more without spending any more money. BECKMEN Cuvee Le Bec, Santa Ynez 2002 $12.92 bottle $143.91 case 12x750ml A very Chateauneuf-like blend of 46% Grenache. 23% Mourvedre, 22% Syrah, and 9% Counoise, this is a lovely, succulent red that splits the difference between the southern Rhone and Aussie GSM wines. It offers fine grapey mixed berry fruit accented with mixed black and white pepper, spice, and a bit of earthy terroir charater. It is wellintegrated enough to be hard to describe but it is very easy to drink. Lovely wine. Excellent. Bear's Score: 92 points. IRONSTONE Xpression, California 2003 $5.77 bottle $64.25 case 12x750ml It doesn't matter whether you treat this as a dark, rich rose or a light-weight chillable red. What you get is a fresh, refreshing light-weight, semi-dry wine offering good cherry, cranberry, and strawberry fruit with notes of earth and black pepper and just enough residual sugar to make it very refreshing and allow it to accompany spicy foods. I think of it as a fairly serious semi-dry rose. Keep an open mind and serve it with spicy gumbo or jambalaya, spicy fried chicken, or outdoor dining that requires a cool or even cold "red" wine. Surprisingly delicious. Very Good. Bear's Score: 86+ points.

www.specsonline.com (continued from p. 13) has an almost California style, due to ripe blackberry fruit with lots of cedar and tobacco and even pencil shavings, along with dusty gravelly terroir notes and a healthy dose of oak. Some of this style extends to the lesser siblings Clerc Milon and d Armailhac. I tend to like the less expensive d Armailhac better as a barrel sample and for the first five or so years after the vintage than its sibling Clerc Milon. After five or so years, Clerc Milon seems to pass d Armailhac and continue to develop. To me, d Armailhac has more power and fruit while Clerc has more elegance and balance. In 1926, a large part of the famous Pauillac second growth Ch. Pichon Longueville was sold. The new property was called Ch. Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande and is now widely known as Pichon Lalande. The unsold portion then became Ch. Pichon Longueville Baron de Longueville and is now widely known as Pichon Baron. The two chateaux face each other across the main road from St. Julien to Pauillac. Although they are formerly one property, the wines are quite different. Pichon lalande is an elegant, somehow feminine wine with an ethereal, perfumed character. It is much easier to evaluate in the second and third years than in the first where it is often overlooked due to its unforthcoming nature. Ch. Pichon Baron went through an underperforming slump until it was purchased by AXA in the 1980s. AXA installed Lynch Bages owner Jean Michel Cazes to manage the property. He quickly got things in order. With its juicyripe, straight forward, classically Pauillac style, Pichon Baron has since taken its place among the best of the second growths. It is always interesting to see which of the Pichons made the best wine in a particular vintage. In most vintages, both Pichons offer the complete package. The second wine of Pichon Lalande is Reserve de la Comtesse. The second wine of Pichon Baron is les Tourelles de Longueville. Affectionately known as Lunch Bags, Ch. Lynch Bages is owned and run by University of Texas-ex (yes, really) Jean Michel Cazes. A classic Pauillac featuring dark berry fruit, a berry liqueur perfume, dust, pencil shavings, and tobacco, Lynch Bages is an over achiever that routinely makes better wine than its fourth growth status would indicate. An added bonus is that the gregarious Cazes travels to Houston at least every couple of years to present and talk about his wines. The second wine of Lynch Bages is Haut Bages Averous. Fifth growth Ch. Batailley used to be a lot bigger, encompassing the vineyards of Haut Batailley as well those that are now its own. When the property was split, the existing chateau went with the Batailley name. Ch. Batailley is classic old style Pauillac. It rarely gets great marks when tasted young (it also never gets bad marks) but it is the sort of wine, like Gruaud Larose in St. Julien, that really rewards the time you cellar it with development and improved flavor. When I think of Batailley, I think of black fruit, pencil shavings, and tobacco with a rich but rustic feel. Ch. Batailley just tastes good every time I drink it. The Borie family have long owned Chx. Ducru Beaucaillou St. Julien, Grand Puy Lacoste Pauillac, Haut Batailley Pauillac, and Lalande Borie St. Julien. Until the 2003 vintage Francois Xavier Borie managed all four properties. The chateaux are listed above in the order of their precedence, with second growth Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou being the undisputed flagship property. At all four chateaux, the wines made under Francois Xavier s regime were true to their appellations and often among the best in their classes. All are elegant, balanced wines that show plenty of fruit character and never had any harsh, over-extracted characteristics sometimes seen when a wine maker is trying too hard to make a great wine. Through the nineties and into this decade, the wines have improved vintage by vintage. With the 2003 vintage, older brother Bruno Borie has returned to the chateaux side of the Borie family's business. The brothers have split responsibilities and now each runs two of the chateaux. Bruno Borie has the two St. Juliens and Francois Xavier Borie has the two Pauillacs. Francois Xavier (who lives with his wife and children at Grand Puy Lacoste) is working to further improve the two fifth growth Pauillac chateaux as he focuses in on Grand Puy Lacoste and Haut Batailley. When I think of these two Pauillacs, I think of dark, ripe but still forward fruit and complexity in the pencil shavings and tobacco range with a gravelly-minerally nuance. Grand Puy Lacoste is a bit bigger and richer and a bit more intense due to its better terroir. Ch. Haut Batailley has long been a personal favorite as a Pauillac priced where I can drink it on a fairly regular basis. The second labels of both properties will become more important as more severe selection is made to make the first wines from both chateaux even better. The second label of Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste is Ch. Lacoste Borie. The second wine of Ch. Haut Batailley is Ch. Tour d Aspic. All four of these wines are well worth seeking out. Spec s is one of the first to bring Tour d Aspic to the US. Bruno Borie seems to be changing the style of the formerly very elegant, perfumed Ducru Beaucaillou to something more like the rich style of Margaux s Ch. Palmer. In 2003, he has succeeded in making a very good rich style wine that represents a departure onto a new path for Ducru Beaucaillou. The wine is excellent but it doesn t taste quite like the great Ducrus I remember from 1995, 1996, 1999, and 2000. As this style change will change the way Ducru tastes and develops, this chateau s track record is now largely out the window. The fact is that Ducru has great terroir and the wines should continue to be very high in quality. The 2nd wine of Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou is Croix de Beaucaillou.The unclassified Ch. Lalande Borie offers a juicy fresh, easy drinking style of St. Julien that I find very enjoyable. It also seems to be getting a bit better with each vintage.

713-526-8787 There are three Leovilles: Leoville Barton, Leoville Poyferre, and Leoville las Cases. It used to be one large property that got divided into the current three estates. All three are classed as second growths. The three estates make their wines differently and each has admirers. Leoville Barton and Leoville Poyferre use their terroir to make ripe, generous, forwardly appealing wines with typical sweet St. Julien Cabernet fruit. They have the potential to age and develop beautifully. Both wines are a pleasure to drink at almost any age. Leoville las Cases is a different animal altogether. Las Cases tries very hard to be a "serious wine" as its owner would like to see it become a first growth. To that end, he makes powerful brooding backward wines that are serious but at least to me are not much fun to drink. I haven t had a Leoville las Cases younger than 1981 that I thought was ready to drink. I wonder if some of them ever will be. To be fair, Leoville las Cases has many admirers and Robert Parker may be chief amongst them.the second wine of Leoville Poyferre is Moulin Riche. The second wine of Leoville Las Cases is Clos du Marquis. Technically speaking, Leoville Barton doesn t have a second wine. Anthony Barton owns both Ch. Langoa Barton and Ch. Leoville Barton. As Leoville Barton does not have its own chateau, the wines are made at Langoa Barton. Nevertheless, Langoa Barton is sometimes lost in Leoville Barton s shadow and that is a shame. In their own right, the wines of third growth Langoa are fine mid-range St. Juliens. While not so excellent as the second growth Leovilles, Ducru, or Gruaud, they are consistently fine and usually are very fairly priced. Unlike some of his neighbors, Anthony Barton is a realist about wine prices. Barton combines the second wines of Langoa Barton and Leoville Barton into one cuvee called Lady Langoa which is seldom seen in the US. Old Bordeaux hands will tell you that second growth Gruaud Larose rewards patient aging as well as any wine from Bordeaux. And they are right. I ve had lots of young Gruauds that wanted a bit more fruit or a bit more complexity. I ve never had an old Gruaud I wasn t thrilled with. The property is all about finesse and balance and elegance. Somehow, the fruit always emerges and the perfume comes on. This is the chateau to buy to keep. First growth Ch. Margaux is gorgeous. And the wines from Ch. Margaux are gorgeous. They are powerful but feminine with a luxurious but subtle perfume and a texture somewhere between Lafite s weightlessness and Latour s power. The fruit is red and black and the complexity is in the tobacco and pencil shavings range with a very subtle earth note. Of all Bordeaux chateaux, Margaux has the power most often to transport me in the same way that great art or great music does. Margaux s Second Label is Pavillon Rouge du Ch. Margaux. There is also a 100% Sauvignon Blanc white grown on the estate called Pavillon Blanc du Ch. Margaux. Second growth Ch. Rauzan Segla began a renaissance in 1994 when the property was purchased by Chanel and John Kolasa (formerly of Ch. Latour) was installed as director. Chanel spent more refurbishing the vineyards, expanding and improving the winery and remodeling the chateau than they spent buying the property. Rauzan Segla (formerly Rausan Segla Chanel reclaimed the zede ) is now a showplace in all senses: Viticulturally, viniculturally, and from an architecture and design standpoint. The wines had slumped badly in quality before Chanel. John Kolasa s first task was to blend an acceptable wine from the 1993 that was in barrel. He did so by creating a second wine, Segla, and selling unsuitable barrels in bulk. Now Rauzan Segla averages 40-45% Grand Vin, 35-45% Segla, and 10-25% wine that does not make the cut and is sold on the bulk Bordeaux market as generic Margaux with no right to the chateau s name. Kolasa s improvements include new tanks that fit each vineyard block, large new plantings of Petite Verdot, improved drainage in all the vineyards, and much more. The results are impossible to argue with. Rauzan Segla is a classy, balanced, flavorful wine with classic Margaux perfume made in a medium-weight, decidedly non-blockbuster but absolutely lovely style. This chateau has not had a single misstep under the current management. Most Bordeaux aficionados would argue that Ch. Haut Brion and Ch. La Mission Haut Brion are numbers one and two in the Graves pecking order. They are located directly across the road from one another (on the Haut Brion Plateau ) and both are owned by the Dillon family, who also own La Mission s next-door neighbor Ch. La Tour Haut Brion. When you taste at Haut Brion or La Mission, you taste all three of these wines plus Bahans Haut Brion (the second wine of Haut Brion) and la Chapelle de la Mission (the second wine of La Mission Haut Brion) and the two whites from the flagship properties, Ch. Haut Brion Blanc and Laville Haut Brion. This is one of my favorite stops every year on the Bordeaux wine tour. The wines are always at least fine, often excellent, and more than occasionally outstanding.the reds are a balanced mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. They reflect that balance with a great mix of berry, cherry, and plum fruit swirled with gravelly minerals and a distinctive tobacco and cedar perfume. The results are the standard for the rest of Pessac Leognan (the best part of Graves).The whites are balanced blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon that are barrel-fermented and aged and undergo full malolactic fermentation. They are often stunning in their richness and focus with tropical lime and pear fruit and the essences of peach and lemon, sweet oak, and a distinctive gravelly mineral character. As rich as they are, they are balanced with lively lime acidity and that swirl of minerality. The second wines of the two whites are blended into one label and marketed as Plantiers du Haut Brion.

www.specsonline.com Administrator Veronique Sanders (daughter of the former owners) has quietly made Ch. Haut Bailly one of the hot properties in Pessac Leognan. Producing only red wine, Haut Bailly is year-in-and-year-out one of the best new wines of the appellation. Older vintages age gracefully gaining a rich texture to go with great elegance and finesse. The fruit is mostly dark berry with some red cherry and a lovely tobacco and earth perfume. I doubt Haut Bailly will ever be trendy but it is always satisfying. The second wine is La Parde. As far back in my wine drinking life as I can remember, Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte in Pessac Leognan has been a favorite producer of both red and white wines. The reds are elegant, balanced, full flavored, medium-weight clarets. The freshly balanced whites, predominantly Sauvignon Blanc with enough Semillon for fatness, display fresh white peach, green pear, and lime fruit with hints of tropical character and a lovely fruit-mineral perfume. Andre Lurton owns Ch. La Louviere. And Ch. Couhins Lurton. And Ch. Cruzeau, and Ch. Rochemorin, and Ch. Coucheroy, and Ch. Bonnet, etc. The beautifully restored La Louviere is the flagship property. La Louviere makes an earthy rich red wine with a slightly rustic but still elegant, balanced feel. The white is a bit more rich than refreshing but still full of fruit flavor and subtle, supple oak over the minerals of Graves. Both are very satisfying. La Louviere is a favorite but Lurton s other properties are all well worth a look, especially from a value standpoint. The pioneering Lurton will bottle La Louviere s 2003s with a Stelvin (screw-cap) closure. Ch. Carbonnieux makes red wine from Pessac Leognan but is best known in the US for its reference standard white made mostly from Sauvignon Blanc. This white is all about freshness and perfume with crisply balanced bright citrus and tree fruit over minerals and acid structure, all with no discernable oak flavor. This is a year-in-year-out favorite that will sell only a few cases as futures but does very well off the shelf on release. Thomas Jefferson took a pecan tree to Carbonnieux that is still growing there. Owned by the Thienpont family and made by Alexandre Thienpont, visiting Vieux Ch. Certan (VCC) in Pomerol is more like visiting Burgundy except the trip to the cellar does not involve going down a flight of stairs. Everything is small here: The average production is 4000 cases. In 2003, VCC made only 800 cases. The estate is unique in Pomerol in that it is planted with about 40% Cabernet Franc to accompany the 60% Merlot. The very high proportion of Cabernet Franc gives the wine complexity, elegance, and dimension. The flavors are subtle cherry and plum fruit with a perfume that runs from tobacco to berry liqueur. The wine often bears more resemblance to Cheval Blanc (across the border in St. Emilion) with which VCC shares both similar terroir and that high proportion of Cabernet Franc. The 2nd wine of VCC is Gravette de Certan. Both VCC and Gravette are very pretty wines. I often stop first at Ch. Cheval Blanc (one of the acknowledged two great wines with Ch. Ausone of St. Emilion) and next at VCC or vice versa. That habit has convinced me of how close these two properties are in style and quality. The differences are more of scale than style. Cheval Blanc is a bit better structured and may be more age-worthy; VCC is prettier and more perfumed. The second wine of Cheval Blanc is Petite Cheval. Hubert de Bouard, longtime owner of Ch. Angelus in St. Emilion, also owns Ch. La Fleur St. Georges in Lalande de Pomerol. Angelus, like Cheval Blanc and Canon la Gaffeliere, is planted to a relatively high volume of Cabernet Franc and so makes a more elegant, balanced (are you starting to see a theme here?) style than your run-of-the-mill St. Emilion. (continued p. 23)

713-526-8787 (continued from p. 22) Bouard s wine is particularly elegant. Quality here is very high due to meticulous attention to detail and great professionalism and pride. He translates that care and style to Lalande de Pomerol with three wines from the La Fleur St. Georges. The original wine from the chateau is called Ch. La Fleur St. Georges. When walking the vineyard after he purchased LA Fleur St. Georges, Bouard noticed a natural break where the soil changed. He harvested and fermented the two sides of the break separately and realized he had two distinct terroirs yielding two distinct wines that were each better unblended with the other. He sells the more classic wine as Ch. Lafleur St. Georges and the richer wine as Ch. La Fleur de Bouard. He has further made a luxury cuvee selection of the La Fleur de Bouard section that he calls Le Plus de Ch. La Fleur de Bouard. Each is unique and different and the latter two get a great deal of attention as the new wave of Lalande de Pomerol and even favorable mention versus more expensive wines from Pomerol. I think the basic La Fleur St. Georges is a great value and offers the sort of balanced, non-showy wine I want for regular drinking with meals. The always dapper Count Niepperg owns Canon La Gaffeliere, Clos de l Oratoire, and La Mondotte in St. Emilion and Ch. d Aiguilhe in Cotes de Castillon and Clos Marsalette in Pessac Leognan. In addition to his ownership and the care and attention to detail and striving for excellence that comes with that, all five properties share the facts that they are all over 60% Merlot and that they are made by Stefan Derenoncourt. There may be no one in St. Emilion with a more deft hand with Merlot than Derenoncourt. The wines are made with Burgundian punch down (pigeage) technique in Burgundian (wide, shallow, open-topped) tanks. They are barrel aged but generally not racked; instead they are gently oxygenated using microbiolage. The result is rich but balanced wines that retain their primary fruit flavors and demonstrate an almost Burgundian level of terroir character in the finished wine. Madame Claude La Barre, a former partner in Ch. Cheval Blanc, owns Ch. Laplagnotte Bellevue in St. Emilion. She brings that high level pursuit of excellence and the expectation of quality with her. For several years now, Ch. Laplagnotte Bellevue is my favorite sub-$30 wine from St. Emilion. The familiar themes of elegance and balance are there in a wine that shows fine red fruit flavors accented by hints of terroir, tobacco, and, in ripe vintages, cedar. This is always a pleasure to drink. Older vintages have proven to age well with good development to repay the time invested keeping the wine in the cellar. Jean Gazaniol, the owner of Ch. Parenchere, may be the straightest shooter I ve met in the wine business. He tells it the way he sees it and doesn t worry about the politics. Although located in a relative backwater of Bordeaux in an obscure, right bank area well below St. Emilion, Ch. Parenchere is blessed with fine terroir which allows Cabernet Sauvignon to ripen in an area where it normally doesn t. And Gazaniol lavishes the same care and technique found at classified growths on the left bank on the production of his estate. Three wines are made: a delightful rose labeled Ch. Parenchere Clairet, the flagship red wine of the estate labeled Ch. Parenchere, and an old vine cuvee labeled Ch. Parenchere Cuvee Raphael Gazanoil. These excellent everyday-priced Bordeaux values are not offered as futures. Ch. Puygueraud in the Cotes de Francs (which abuts the Cotes de Castillon which abuts St. Emilion) is the home of the Thienpont family who also own Ch. le Pin and Vieux Ch. Certan. Puygueraud is an every-day priced red based on Merlot with some Cabernet Franc and Malbec typically in the blend. This charming wine is fruit driven with a rich texture. It is a consistent favorite in the range of lower priced Bordeaux. The chateau also makes a special cuvee called Georges Cuvee de Ch. Puygueraud which is built around old vine Malbec. It is a dusty, rich, spicy cuvee with plenty of fruit and a bit more terroir character. drinking the wines from all these properties both great and small. Even if I could afford to drink nothing but the great growths of the Medoc, I wouldn t. There is so much good wine out there in every price range with a huge range of flavors and styles, it would be a shame to limit myself to any few. I d almost feel as if I had been cut-off from old friends because I ve gotten to know all these chateaux and their wines very well over the years. Bear Dalton

ABOUT THE ACCOMPANYING SCORES: Accompanying the wines listed in these offers are scores listed under Parker s Score ; these are from Robert M. Parker, Jr.'s The Wine Advocate. Those scores listed under Spectator Score" are from The Wine Spectator. Those scores listed under Tanzer's Score" are from Stephen Tanzer s The International Wine Cellar. Spec's encourages our customers interested in wine to subscribe to these fine publications. The Wine Advocate can be contacted for subscriptions by phone at 410-329-6477. The Wine Spectator may be contacted for new subscriptions by phone at 1-800-752-7799. The International Wine Cellar may be contacted by phone at 1-800-946-3505. "Bear's Scores are taken from my tasting notes made during trips to Bordeaux for the Union des Grands Crus Tastings in late March (2003 and 2004). Bear Dalton sure to impress whover is on your list, without impressing too much upon your wallet! Our Wine Department is one of the most knowledgeable in the industry, and they will send two bottles of wine, carefully chosen from our incredible selection, along with complete descriptions of the wines, possible food pairings and even appropriate toasts. Choose Monthly or Semi-Monthly you will be appreciated throughout the year! MONTHLY Two bottles of wine every month SEMI-MONTHLY Two bottles of wine every other month 455.99 227.99 new basic red argentina Try this value-priced blend of Sangiovese and Bonardo from Argentina's Maipu district. It offers spicy cherry fruit with good ripeness, nice notes of earth and spice and a dusty dry, chewy character. This super value is perfect as an everyday red for pizza, pasta, burgers, or whatever. Very Good. Bear's Score: 85 points. 12x750ml NORTH/NORTHWEST 5050 FM 1960 West 281-893-5080 6765 Hwy 6 North 281-855-1759 1420 Kingwood Dr. 281-359-7115 7413 Louetta 281-370-1986 13313 Kuykendahl 281-873-5220 25044 IH 45 North 281-362-9131 17414 Northwest Frwy713-983-8827 27620 Highway 249 281-351-6007 SOUTH/SOUTHEAST/EAST 1029 Bay Area Blvd 281-486-9558 3120 Nasa Rd One 281-326-5127 VINA ANTIGUA Sangiovese-Bonardo, Maipu, 2002 3.99 btl 45.48 case NOW OPEN! SPEC'S NEIGHBORHOOD STORES: 196 Gulf Freeway South281-316-2140 8714 Stella Link 713-667-7277 2314 W. Holcombe 713-669-1722 Woodforest @ BWY 8 713-637-7327 WEST/SOUTHWEST 7766 Hwy 6 South 281-530-2595 3335 Hwy 6 South 281-313-4444 11990 Westheimer 281-497-0413 8102 Westheimer 713-780-2573 1640 S. Mason Road 281-395-6262 963 Bunker Hill 713-464-2216 14625 Memorial 281-870-9778 ATASCOCITA: 7034 FM 1960 East 281-812-3100 BEAUMONT: 5876 Eastex Freeway 409-835-5931 Prices advertised include Spec s 5% discount for cash. All bottles are 750 ml unless otherwise specified. Not all products may be available at all locations, some prices may vary and are subject to change. Hours of operation are 10:00 am to 9:00 pm, Monday through Saturday, or visit us on the web at www.specsonline.com