2003 Malescot St. Exupery, alc 11-13% (on label); (vineyards: 50% Cab Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 10% Cab Franc, 5% Petit Verdot; blend this year not known to me)
In the glass, deep red, almost purple, with very slight bricking around the edge. After a little alcohol blows off, mushrooms in the nose, alongside what seem to me blackberries. The mushroomy note proves to be one of the most interesting features of the wine, along with some cedar, tobacco--at one point a greener leaf--as well as dark berries.The wine has a nice velvety mouthfeel, but in the midpalate and beyond seems slightly wan, a little too light (at an early stage a little watery). It had been opened undecanted, and by the end of the bottle, it pulled itself together into a nice package; it was interesting, even charming throughout, but still, in my estimation, a good to very goof, but not a great wine. Doubtless, it could be held longer, but it does not seem to me to promise great longevity, and is drinking well at the moment.