The best Bordeaux bottles

As I pointed out last week, the 2000 vintage in Bordeaux is not a great vintage in the rich, ripe mould of 1982, 1989 or 1990. It is, though, a very good, forceful, vividly balanced and chewy vintage, resembling 1986 or the best (right-bank) 1975s. Should you buy?

Yes. There has never been so much good wine made in Bordeaux. The so-called "garage" wines of St Emilion have given the whole of Bordeaux the wine-making kick in the bottom which it needed. Everyone has raised their game, and since the 2000 vintage favoured the whole of this enormous district, the result is a Baikal-sized lake of solid, cellar-seeking wines to choose from.

All marks out of 100

Cheval Blanc: no other wine in Bordeaux resembles this spring symphony of cherry blossom and raspberry perfume. 94
Eglise-Clinet: fire and smoke blasts from this forceful and ambitious old-gun Pomerol. 94
La Mission Haut-Brion: tightly sharpened pencils, violet essence and meat jus. 94
La Mondotte: the most brooding and meditative La Mondotte yet, with a panther's paw behind the rich, succulent fruit. 94
Pavie: superb power and concentration; flavours of sweet blackcurrant and moist, crushed charcoal. 94
Pétrus: perhaps more wide than deep this year, and very marked by cedary oak at present, yet the fresh-fruit nuggets bode well. 94
Lynch-Bages: this claret is a boulder set to roll down the years, scattering spices and meat juices in its wake. 93
Palmer Blue: velvet for your tongue; sumptuously feline wine. 93
Tertre-Roteboeuf: it's fillet of Roteboeuf this year - thick slices of expressive, peat-soft red wine. 93
Gruaud-Larose: the dragster of the classed growths in 2000, this has massive, thrashing, untamed and beastly depths. 92

Calon-Ségur: classed-growth claret for Barossa-lovers. Plunging black fruit; rummaged earth. 92
Les Forts de Latour: can't afford Latour? Don't mope. This junior version is a firework success this year, packed with cedary, creamy, nourishing black fruits. 91
Duhart-Milon: elegant, soaring and lyrical wine from the Lafite stable. 91
Clos du Marquis: tsunami of cassis from Las Cases. 90
Giscours: the best Giscours for years - dark, forceful, dense. 90
Malescot St Exupéry: elegant tannins fall like snow through the crunchy, spicy fruit of this expressive wine. 89
Gree Laroque: surging and exuberantly fruited Bordeaux Supérieure. 88
Le Pin Beausoleil: gutsy, full and spicy wine from same AOC. 88
Puygueraud Cuvee George fascinating blend including 35 per cent Malbec and 35 per cent Cabernet Franc from the Côtes de Francs, full of pepper and liquorice. 88
La Tour Carnet: this unassuming fourth-growth gets it together with a deep, sweet-fruited classic. 88

La Fleur: pure, celestial prunes.

94 Nenin: a huge leap forward this year. Containerloads of fat, deep and pure black berries. 93
Certan de May: breast-round and milky. 92
Evangile: a chocolate-and-toffee show-stopper. 92
L'Archange: a new St Emilion name to remember: dreamy, lush ripeness. 91
Bon Pasteur: best ever from Michel Rolland's own property? Cream-fruit haemorrhage. 91
Clos du Clocher: pop this in your mouth and suck it. Pure, fresh, artless and delicious Pomerol. 90
Clos de l'Oratoire: Joie de vivre; joie de boire. 90
Croix du Casse: fine value, soft-tar, superripe Pomerol. 90
La Tour Figeac: decadent blackberry and chocolate-truffle wine from a near neighbour of Cheval Blanc. 90

Canon: welcome back, Canon. Spicy depths plus classic St Emilion meatiness, but graceful and impeccably balanced. 93
Léoville-Barton: a warm spray of blackcurrants, promising years of unfolding fruits to come. 92
La Fleur-Pétrus: ripe, clove-spiced fruits and a silk-scarf texture. 91
Magdelaine: this St Emilion combines elegant meat stock with liquorice-violet perfumes. 91
Rauzan-Ségla: tempting wine this year from a much-improved Margaux aristocrat - sheaves of irises, bunches of violets, jars of currants. 91
Prieuré-Lichine: classy, svelte, pure, sweet and floral Margaux from the talented Stéphane Derenoncourt. 91
Ducru-Beaucaillou: soft, graceful, limpid fruits. 90
Cantenac-Brown: quietly improving for years, the 2000 combines an angel's grace with soft, sweet tannin and deft black-cherry fruit. 90
Brane-Cantenac: This long-underperforming second growth has made a choice and satisfyingly architectural wine. 89