Talbot (St. Julien) 2000

90 pts Wine Spectator

This has a solid core of plum cake, blackberry paste and warmed fig fruit flavors that are fully melded together, while sweet cedar and tobacco notes line the finish. Right where it should be now.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2020.

89-91 pts Vinous

Bright ruby-red. Reticent aromas of black fruits, violet, bitter chocolate and licorice, plus a whiff of smoky oak. Dense, lush and sweet, but lively acids lift the flavors and contribute to the perfumed impression in the mouth. Finishes firmly tannic and fresh but sweet, with dusty tannins and lingering notes of leather and game. A second sample of roughly equal quality seemed less fleshy but offered lovely pliancy, and a flavor of bitter chocolate.