Wonderful Gift

[BasketBzz]

I received a wonderful gift this evening of 4 bottles of wine from France. Labels show they are from the Saint-Emilion and Pomerol regions. I am new at this- and just learning.....and not knowing much about them- I thought I would ask here if they should(or could) be "put on hold" to age a bit- or open and drink ASAP (LOL). Any help would be greatly appreciated!
1- Chateau Lapelletrie 2002
2- Chateau Lassegue- 1998
3- Chateau Arnaud de Jacquemeau- 1999
4- Chateau des Pelerins- 2002

[BasketBzz]

In reading a couple of the other postings in this category- I saw that posters also added additional information that was on the label. So....for the wines I just listed 3 of them say "Saint-Emilion Grand Cru" and the 4th Chateau des Pelerins just has Pomerol below it.
Again I am new at this--- I thought that Saint-Emilion and Pomerol just told you about the region of France they came from. Is the Grand Cru part a further designation of location or quality?
Also, it seems from the other Bordeaux postings that I should probably hold these at least/ minimum of 5 years from the dates on the labels...is that correct?

[wondersofwine]

Grand Cru in St. Emilion is not as high a designation as Grand Cru Classe so may be a more average wine. I'm not a Bordeaux expert so hesitate to tell you when to drink them. "Wine Spectator" website used to be a good place to see whether you should drink or hold a particular vintage from a particular region (still a generalization as the wine from one producer will be more tannic or more ready than another) but they charge to access the website now and I have not subscribed this year. St. Emilion wines usually mature sooner than Pomerol wines. They may be approachable now while the Pomerol may be better at 10-15 years.

[robr]

I recently bought a bottle of Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, a recent vintage (I think it was 2002 or '03) and was told it was ready to drink. Apparently they mature faster than other wines from this part of Bordeaux. Don't know why. Probably Mr. Rolland's "micro-oxegenation" process!