JS95-96: This is very rich and powerful with blackberry, blueberry, mineral and stone. Full body, very fine tannins. Very chalky and intense on the finish. Best ever?

JD96: An awesome Saint Emilion, the 2015 Château Barde-Haut showed even better on this occasion than on release. A huge nose of sweet crème de cassis, jammy blackberries, violets, leather, and dried herbs gives way to a full-bodied wine that has a great mid-palate, ripe, silky tannins, not a hard edge to be found, and a great, great finish. I love it even today, yet it has a full two decades of prime drinking ahead of it.

WS93: A restrained style, with a core of damson plum, raspberry and cassis flavors held in check for now by fine-grained cedar, sanguine and iron hints. There's racy acidity running underneath and a long, focused finish, so cellar this to let the two sides meld fully. Best from 2022 through 2032.

WA92:Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Barde-Haut gives up notions of plum preserves, potpourri and baked cherries with underlying Chinese five spice and cigar box hints. Medium to full-bodied, it has a firm backbone of grainy tannins and background freshness supporting the spicy black fruits, finishing on a lingering earthy note.