2000 Château Batailley, Pauillac, Bordeaux

Tasted at the Batailley vertical tasting at the château, the 2000 Batailley displayed youthful vigor on the nose with boysenberry and damson fruit, incense and iodine. As I remarked when I last tasted this in 2011, there is an opulence here that this estate rarely produced up until this period.

The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin; this bottle is more backward than others, with firm tannin providing sturdy backbone. It remains a burly Pauillac for the vintage, and it is certainly masculine in style. Then again, that is a leitmotif of the millennial vintage. As such, I can envisage this mellowing in four to six year's time, whereupon it will have the substance to give drinking pleasure over many years.

Drink 2020 - 2045

There is so much white truffle and ripe fruit here with meat, cedar and berry character. Full and very rich. Decadent.

Delicious now