A dense ruby/purple color is followed by notes of cedarwood, black currants, tobacco leaf, and spice box. The 2005 Confiance de Gerard Depardieu is deep, full-bodied, and dense with the wood component well-concealed behind a cascade of fruit and structure. Give this beauty another 1-2 years of bottle age, and drink it over the following 10-15.Gerard Depardieu, Bernard Magrez, winemaker Jean Cordeau, and Michel Rolland have turned out something special as this fabulous cuvee competes with a second or third growth Medoc.

This elegant 500-case blend of 95% Merlot and 5% Malbec exhibits gorgeous aromatics of sweet berries intermixed with smoke, flowers, and forest floor. An attractive, medium-bodied effort with tremendous richness, texture, and concentration, it should be consumed during its first 7-8 years of life.

Part of Bernard Magrez’s Cuvee d’Exception program, Confiance is marketed with the assistance of French actor Gerard Depardieu. Produced from tiny yields of 23 hectoliters per hectare, the 2003 displays a voluptuous texture along with huge, sweet berry aromatics intermixed with toasty oak and earth. This fruit-forward luscious wine is meant to be consumed during its first 5-7 years of life.

Cropped at a minuscule 15 hectoliters per hectare, the 2002 possesses a dense ruby/purple color in addition to a big, sweet nose of high class cigar tobacco, creme de cassis, cherries, and earth. This medium to full-bodied, lush offering, which completely transcends its pedigree, demonstrates what dedicated viticulture and winemaking can accomplish in an unheralded appellation.Confiance (a blend of 95% Merlot and 5% Malbec) is the finest wine I have ever tasted from the Premieres Cotes de Blaye. It is meant to represent a tete de cuvee produced in conjunction with the partnership renowned French actor Gerard Depardieu has with Bordeaux wunderkind Bernard Magrez.