Deeper in color than the 2002, it is a testament to that younger vintage that side-by-side, the 1999 Grands Echezeaux is no match. It has an intense but paradoxically slightly introverted bouquet with blacker fruit than the 2002, perhaps a little sweeter and here, tinged with licorice. The palate is sweet and rounded on the entry and one is immediately taken by the impressive weight and girth, yet there is not the precision or the transparency that elevates the 2002 above anything else. Still, there are attractive, slightly viscous fruit on the seductive finish and I suspect that another two or three years in bottle will do this no harm. Yet I cannot envisage this wine approaching the 2002.