The PJ Wine team spent the first two weeks of April tasting barrel samples of the "classically" styled 2004 Bordeaux vintage. We visited over 60 chateaux, and tasted over 600 wines, most 2 or 3 times. There were re-affirmations of consistent quality favorites, some pleasant surprises and many disappointments as well.

	The amazing barrel room at Château Lafite Rothschild, where we tasted the elegant and classic 2004.

The Executive Summary: The 2004 Bordeaux vintage is largely very good in quality with many of the top producers turning out excellent wines in a more classic and elegant mode. It is not a blockbuster, fruit-forward vintage along the lines of the 2000 and 2003 vintages. It is a vintage less for those who hunger for unbridled fruit and more for those who prefer elegance and a bit of patience in the bottle. It was a very abundant, very late harvest year. Those estates with the foresight and means to do the extra work in the vineyards to reduce yields and wait for full phenolic maturity were able to turn out very good to excellent wines with finesse, concentration, vibrant acidity, ripeness and a full tannic structure. Those unable to do so made wines on the lean and green side with the worst being watery and tannic. The PJ's tasting team has gone to great lengths to separate out the underachievers for you.

The beautiful Château Lagrange, where they have come out with an impressive and affordable 2004 St. Julien.

The Appellations: The elite 2004 Bordeaux performers are not a huge group. Making the grade often came down more to a particular producer's choices than to the appellation's success in general. Yet we did find some trends in the samples we tasted, which we note below.

The Left Bank: The classified crus of Margaux showed particularly well as did many in St. Julien and Pauillac. Excepting the best examples, St. Estèphe and Médoc veered a bit more on the lean side in general. Once again the best terroirs shone through beautifully. Château Margaux and Latour are our top candidates for Wine of the Vintage and I personally prefer both in 2004 over the more voluptuous 2003 editions.

Pessac-Léognan, Graves, Sauternes and Barsac: The red wines of Pessac-Léognan and the Graves showed very good balance, finesse and promise, even without gobs of forward fruit. The dry whites showed even a bit better, with very good richness and acidity in the best examples. The sweet whites of Sauternes and Barsac lacked the richness, intensity and depth one looks for in a great vintage but many were surprisingly well-balanced, approachable and will make very pleasing drinking in the nearer term.

The Right Bank: On the right bank Pomerol rebounded very nicely from 2003's difficulties with very good offerings overall, though probably not at the heights of 2000. The St. Emilions were not showing well, and were the most controversial. The very

	One of the tasting rooms at VINTEX, a Bordeaux negociant, where we were able to taste many wines a second or third time as well as search for hidden gems.

late completion of malolactic fermentation this year made for very tough and tannic samples when we tasted in early April. Some showed good, ripe fruit underneath, but it remains to be seen how well they will come around. We are hopeful subsequent tastings will show the wines in a better and perhaps more indicative light.

Summary: For Bordeaux wine lovers the large production and less forward character of the vintage mean there will be attractive pricing on many blue-chip wines—especially for those who prefer elegance over extraction. Please review our highly selective list of offerings below.

Cheers!
—Justin and the PJ's Team