This is extremely bright and exotic, with crushed berries, flowers, orange peel and strawberries. Full body with a super-refined tannin structure and gorgeous, subtle chocolate, coffee and orange peel with red fruits. You want to drink it now, but better in 2016.

Opaque ruby-purple. Brooding nose hints at very pure cassis, violet and milk chocolate. Dense, rich and serious, with deep cassis and mineral flavors firmed by noble tannins. Very long and pure on the aftertaste. Considering the amount of gravel in the soil here, Le Pin has done a standout job in 2011. This is the year the estate inaugurated its small new chai designed by Belgian architect Paul Robbrecht, with seven stainless steel vats ranging between 15 and 45 hectoliters in capacity. Jacques Thienpont told me that this will allow for greater precision in harvesting the property's various parcels.

This is tightening up a little now, with a graphite edge holding sway over lightly mulled plum and boysenberry fruit, revealing a lovely tug of earth at the end. This has lost the caressing feel of its youth and picked up the vintage's telltale briary edge, but the fruit is as gorgeous as always.

Caramelized fruit, coffee bean, espresso, black cherry liqueur, licorice and spice aromas jump from the glass of this dark ruby/plum-colored wine. Concentrated and silky-textured, this full-bodied, voluptuous wine is a brilliant example of the 2011 vintage. Give it 2-4 more years in the bottle and enjoy it over the next 15 or more.