Wine Advocate
byNeal Martinthe7/29/2016
Doesn't it seem like a different era when the 2000s were released to great fanfare? I mean, it's only 15-16 years ago, but I guess the world has changed so much in the interim, it feels longer. This was made before 9/11 changed the world into a darker place, when the Internet was still the domaine for geeks, when Tony Blair was liked and Britain was an active if bolshie member of the European Union. Bordeaux was the kingpin of fine wine, Burgundy its downmarket cousin. Following the script, along came a great vintage hand in hand with the numerical significance of a new millennium and hey, presto, we all rejoiced. Then as the years passed, it was side-lined by 2005, 2009, 2010 and perhaps even 2015. To say the 2000s are forgotten about is too strong an expression, but certainly murmurings that the wines have not lived up to the initial hype, and that they seem obdurate and unflattering with age have somewhat tarnished their reputation vis-à-vis subsequent peaks. Just when you think that adulation might have been misplaced, along comes a bottle like the 2000 Château Haut-Brion and you experience euphoria, like seeing an old friend whose company you had forgotten how much you treasure. Robert Parker gave this wine 99 points in 2010 and you know what, the only thing I might change about the score is to put a plus sign next to it. It's not a Pessac-Léognan for those born without patience, however, in 20-odd years they might look back on this as the pinnacle of the millennial year. Who made it? Why, the very same clever sausage who made the 1990 La Mission Haut-Brion. 99+