[WTN] Ch La Roche Beaulieu 2003 "Rex Bidendi"

This is the most expensive bottle I've bought to date. I'd tried the second wine of this Chateau and found it outstanding, so I absolutely had to give the first wine a try.

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Smells of plum and cedar, with a little hint of black pepper.

Very smooth and balanced on the palate, with a number of flavours vying immediately for your attention - plum, blackcurrant, smoke, pepper, cedar and licorice with elements of gentle oak treatment. Disappointingly, none are especially intense but most have enough impact to make you sit up and take notice. Texture is a bit on the thin and watery side, but the finish is a good long smear of blackberry jam down the back of your throat.

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Pretty good, but not as good as I was hoping. I'm not sure it's any better than the 2nd wine (which, for the record, has less complexity but better texture and intensity - tasting note here: http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10466.

Perhaps I'm missing something - maybe that balanced-strength-yet-complex cocktail of flavours is what I should be expecting from a "better" wine rather than something that blows my head off with flavour?

Pretty good, but not as good as I was hoping. I'm not sure it's any better than the 2nd wine (which, for the record, has less complexity but better texture and intensity

I have no experience with these particular wines in question, and you may in fact be right that the 2nd wine is better than the 1st wine. However, it is worth noting that second wines (or "lesser" cuvees in general) are often more enjoyable, more approachable, and more expressive when young. While the top wines need years of age to come together.

That said, perhaps someone who actually knows this wine will chime in

However, it is worth noting that second wines (or "lesser" cuvees in general) are often more enjoyable, more approachable, and more expressive when young. While the top wines need years of age to come together.

I know this is often true - but this was from the Cotes de Castillon and is largely Merlot, and the retailer said it should be good now, so I thought I was on fairly safe ground. That said, "good" is not of course the same as "at its best".