Chateau Les Ormes de Pez 2003: A pleasing nose; nutty, with some pickling spice intensity, and notes of beetroot fruit. Pleasant palate, a little suppleness to it, but also rather a burnt feeling to the tannins. Seems extracted and rather brawny. Quite obvious acidity too. It all seems a little out of kilter. Merely quite good. 14.5/20

Chateau Lafon Rochet 2003: A really deep, glossy colour here. Rich and intense on the nose, with ripe fruit in abundance, with a floral, slightly exotic, pickling spice note. Ripe, supple entry, although this favourable impression fades a little through the midpalate, although it maintains a healthy presence of super-ripe fruit and succulent texture. Piles of tannins, quite an exposed unknit structure, but I think there is the fruit and substance to cope with this in the cellar. Very good potential. 16.5+/20

Chateau Batailley 2003: Subtle, rather muted on the nose. Not brimming with texture or character on the palate, and showing very firm, prominent tannins too. Decent weight, and rather firm acidity, but really all structure and little else at present. Brawny style. Merely quite good. 14.5/20

Chateau Clerc-Milon 2003: A dense, quite powerful, masculine nose, showing ripe, brawny, exotic, macerated cherry fruit, with a nutty element of unresolved oak. Firm, structured palate, with not a lot of character. Rather ripe, grippy but prominent tannins give a firm structured feel to the palate. Decent acidity. Good. 15/20

Chateau Haut-Bages-Libéral 2003: Good, youthful and fresh fruit on the nose, still with some nutty oak. Ripe and rounded fruit on the palate, and here we have ripe, supple, slightly meaty tannins nicely knitted into the fruit and texture that this wine possesses. A supple mouthfeel, firm fruit and a lovely style. A success for Clare Villars. Very good potential. 16.5+/20

Chateau Lynch-Bages 2003: A nice, nutty, macerated fruit nose, although not the most expressive. Nice, cool style on entry, well structured with ripe and supple tannins, again nicely knitted into the fruit and texture. Dark fruit flavour profile. Sadly acidity rather on the low side. Will make good mid-term drinking though. 16+/20

Chateau Pichon-Baron 2003: A rather muted nose compared with Pichon-Lalande, although still showing exotic, perfumed and violet-infused black fruits with a roasted nut edge. Succulent, creamy, with firm tannins, quite well knitted together with the substance of the wine. Full, exotic, slightly brawny, but with good acidity. There is some finesse here, and overall it's a touch more exciting than young Pichon-Baron usually is. Lovely floral-tinged finish. A success! 17.5+/20

Chateau Pichon-Lalande 2003: A great nose here, of intense, dark fruits swirled with raspberry compote, tinged with cashew nuts. But it is seductive and restrained rather than slutty. Lovely, creamy, raspberry scented fruit, fine elegance and texture. Beautifully structured, supple and well put together. Nut and toffee influenced finish. In parts, quite gorgeous. A success! 18+/20

Chateau Pontet-Canet 2003: Dark, super-macerated, super-ripe fruit. A fat, sexy style on entry, with a creamy texture carrying a raft of exotic, spiced and peppered fruit. Beneath it all there's a big, brawny structure, although rather soft acidity, engendering a fat, opulent finish. The tannins coat the mouth here. I think there is sufficient substance to carry these tannins. Very good. 17/20

Chateau Beychevelle 2003: Ripe, pressed blackcurrant nose, with a suggestion of creamy white chocolate. Ripe, restrained, but succulent and appealing. Plenty of elegantly styles fruit. Firm tannin, firm acidity too, altogether nice structure, texture a little creamy. Not quite the substance I might have hoped for. But should drink well. 15.5+/20

Chateau Branaire-Ducru 2003: Not very expressive, but with sweet, blackcurranty fruit on the nose. Attractive palate. Restrained, elegant, with appealing texture. The acidity is a little low, and there is quite a show of tannins. Again this should show some improvement in the cellar. 15.5+/20

Chateau Gruaud-Larose 2003: An expressive nose here, with ripe dark cherry fruit. This has classic masculine Gruaud on the palate, with a very firm core of tannins running through a more supple, near seamless presence of fruit. It has decent acidity too. For fans of the style, this might just do. Good. 16+/20

Chateau Lagrange 2003: Whoa! An unusual nose here; confected, cola-aniseed-cherry nose with a lifted, estery nature. Rather light on entry, but picks up through the midpalate, with some rounded morello cherry fruit and firm tannin. Little in the way of presence or texture, and incongruous acidity. What's gone wrong here? One to avoid. 13/20

Chateau Langoa-Barton 2003: A lovely, almost exotic dark fruit nose. Quite captivating although hardly typical blueberry and blackberry aromas. Succulent palate, good ripe fruit, with a firm core of tannins. Good acidity. A little violet edge to the flavour. This is good claret - well done. 16+/20

Chateau Léoville-Barton 2003: Denser, more showy than the Langoa. Deeper, richer, darker damson fruit. And it's more supple on the palate, with a balanced style, and a ripe, succulent character. It does also show a firmer core of admittedly creamy tannins, however, although there is plenty of sweet, dark black fruits. This has good substance and potential for the cellar. 17+/20

Chateau Léoville-Poyferré 2003: Dark, exotic fruit nose. Damsons, with a hint of blackcurrant. Ripe, balanced, seamless structure. It has a gentle elegance, with creamy fruit and a peppery edge. Really gentle, fine tannins and correct acidity. This is very good indeed. Certainly the equal of Léoville Barton, if not slightly ahead. 17+/20

Chateau Talbot 2003: Dark, macerated, blackberry fruit, with a buttery edge from the residual fruit. Sweet, with immediate impact on entry. Grippy, structured, but packed with loads of blackberry fruit. Nice texture and substance here. After a weak 2002 this is a success for Talbot. 16+/20

Chateau d'Angludet 2003: Nice, fresh, lifted black fruit on the nose, with perfume and gravelly, stony-mineral character. Pleasing texture; ripe, succulent, almost creamy edge, with supple tannins and correct acidity. Really pleasant, well managed extract. There is good drinking potential here. A success! 16.5/20

Chateau Cantenac-Brown 2003: Rather dense, brawny fruit. Muted, macerated black cherry fruit. Ripe, with soft acidity. Lots of (over-)extracted character, light texture, low acidity, showing the heat of the vintage for sure. Completely out of kilter. 14/20

Chateau du Tertre 2003: Lovely, forward, open nose here, with perfumed, Margaux character. Rather gentle attack on the palate. Ripe, lithe and balanced, with just sufficient acidity. Supple, peppery tannins and quite marked (and welcome) violet and floral perfume. This is good. 16+/20

Chateau Durfort-Vivens 2003: Creamy-berry fruit and white chocolate nose. Lithe, supple, creamy edge to the attack, but completely loses it all through the midpalate. Lacks presence, flavour, style and character. Although the tannins are, in its favour, not over done. But not a success. 15/20

Chateau Ferrière 2003: A really lifted nose here, showing fresh blackcurrant and blackberry fruit. How refreshing. Lovely ripe texture on entry, with beautiful style. The tannins are completely in keeping with the fruit and acidity. Ripe and supple presence, really crisp style with freshness, not seen that often in this vintage. Ferrière goes from strength to strength; another success for Clare Villars. 17/20

Chateau Giscours 2003: Lovely, lifted and expressive, mineral-tinged fruit here. A delightful impact. Lovely, rounded structure on the palate, which shows a creamy style with nicely knitted tannins, and elegant presence and good balance. Firm acidity and overall very good structure. A success. 17+/20

Chateau Kirwan 2003: Macerated cherry fruit with a pleasing although atypical toasted brioche character to the nose. Full, creamy palate, firm and structured, but with cherry fruit overlaid. Ripe and a little brawny, rather one-dimensional and simple. But it is young, and the structure and balance are there. Very good potential here. 16.5+/20 

Chateau Lascombes 2003: Exotic nose, pickling spices, and a great depth of fruit. This is distinctive and certainly denotes a wine of quality. Full, creamy presence on the palate, with firm, ripe, peppery tannins which show particularly on the endpalate. Decent acidity. It doesn't show much Margaux character, but is ripe, well-knit and certainly impressive. Despite criticism surrounding lack of typicité, I certainly prefer this to the Lascombes of old. 17/20

Chateau Malescot St-Exupéry 2003: A touch of perfume here, with mineral-tinged fruit and a nutty edge from some residual oak. Lovely cool, stylish entry, but then quite structured and fine through the midpalate, with some precise fruit. Good acidity, a lovely blackberry style of fruit, and a perfumed edge. Nice grippy finish, but the tannins shouldn't cause any difficulties here. 17+/20

Chateau Marquis de Terme 2003: Rather closed nose. Pleasing texture on entry, but light style through the midpalate, lacking impact, and devoid of character and balanced structure. Not a success at all. 13/20

Chateau Prieuré-Lichine 2003: Nice nose; rather muted, but showing some primary black fruits, and with a cashew nut, oak-derived aroma. Good texture of fruit on the palate, but with very firm tannins. Ripe, dark, slightly nutty, but with more tannins than the fruit can cope with at present. 15.5/20

Chateau Rauzan-Ségla 2003: A blend of nuts and black fruit on the nose here. This is promising. Nice, supple style on entry, then a core of ripe tannins well supported by dark black fruits, with a faint floral edge. This has lovely style; elegance and fresh acidity. Excellent potential here. 17.5+/20