Bond - St. Eden 2003

96 WINE ENTHUSIAST: "Tasted alongside the Melbury, St. Eden is richer, more layered and complex. The jammy cherry and chocolate flavors here possess deeper notes of blue and purple fruits, with a brooding, mulchy depth that grounds the wine. The texture is gorgeous, with perfectly ripe, sweet tannins. Despite the wine´s power, it has an airy, cloud-like quality, surely the mark of a great wine." 94 THE WINEADVOCATE: "The 2003 St. Eden comes from an 11-acre rocky knoll on the northern side of the Oakville Crossroad that consists of pure red soils. It is the most evolved and forward of these 2003 Bond wines. Lots of cedar, chocolate, roasted herb, lavender and spice box notes emerge from this complex Pauillac-like effort. Medium to full-bodied and fully mature, it is more evolved than its siblings, revealing sweet tannin as well as a spicy, earthy finish. Owners are advised to drink it over the next decade." Drink: 2013 - 2023 - Robert M. Parker, Jr. 93+ ANTONIO GALLONI: "Good deep ruby. High-pitched nose dominated by black cherry. Dense and sweet but with a light touch. Distinctly minerally, sharply delineated wine that nonetheless seems less dense than the 2004 example. Still quite youthfully tight and firmly tannic, with an almost medicinal austerity. Today I don´t find the liqueur-like sweetness this wine displayed from barrel, but this conveys an impression of brooding power and will require following." - Stephen Tanzer - May 2006.