A smoking good Pessac-Léognan, the 2009 Château Larrivet Haut-Brion takes about an hour of air to show at its best and offers a classic Graves bouquet of meaty black fruits, green tobacco, barbecue smoke, and cedar. It picks up more elegance and purity with time in the glass and is medium to full-bodied, with a sexy, layered texture, good acidity, and a great finish. This balanced, complex, stunning 2009 can be drunk any time over the coming 15-20 years or more.

A sensational wine from this Pessac-Leognan estate the 2009 possesses notes of charcoal graphite roasted herbs truffles spice box and luxurious quantities of black currant and black cherry fruit. Full-bodied impressively endowed. and well under the radar for most consumers this outstanding wine is a sleeper of the vintage and well worth buying. It should drink well for 15 or more years.

This broad mouthfilling red delivers linzer torte blackberry preserves and mulled fig notes laced with black tea bittersweet cocoa and anise accents. The long fleshy finish has a mouthwatering peppery hint. Approachable but will cellar well enough. Drink now through 2018. 7250 cases made. -JM