Mint leaf, marzipan, fennel, smoked earth, fig, freshly grated black truffle, and a ton of cassis fruit. This is young but complex, with a bright future. The only wine in the vertical that is above 14% in alcohol, a...

Currants and dark fruits with hints of licorice. Full and silky with ripe tannins and berry. Cigar tobacco and berry. Sweet tobacco. This is a wine that shows serious depth of fruit and refined tannins. Better in 2016.

If you like great Cuban Cigars, the nose here has your name on it. From there, add forest floor, leaf, red fruits, spice, flowers and a waft of smoke. Full-bodied, powerful, graceful and concentrated, this is a perfect...

Decanted immediately on opening, because this remains firmly structured even at 25 years old, and feels a good number of years younger than the 1995. Once the oxygen softens things up, the autmnal but still-juicy cassis...

Creamy blackberry and loganberry fruits with touches of brioche, and flaky pastry. Young, needs time, still in the plump early fruit phase, more exuberant than a young Saint Pierre in most vintages, but this will close...

A spicy and fat, rich wine, atypical of Bordeaux. There is grip and depth of flavour here, with blackcurrant coulis character and some lovely menthol edging. A balanced wine.

Spicy, rich and full of ripe fruit, this wine has great potential. It is structured and dense while bringing out a stylish elegance. Blackberry fruit dominates the tannins to create a wine that has both concentration and...

Cassis puree, with gourmet edges of smoked caramel, blacberry and spiced plum. This is tight at the moment, needs a good few hours in a carafe to really show itself, and will improve further over next few years. 40% new...

Violet-edged, with sculpted fruit and an enticing mix of precision and generosity, with classic St Julien balance. Great depth of fruit, crushed rocks, smoked earth, tobacco. Takes time to show itself, but there is sweet...

One of those wines that seriously improved from barrel to bottling, the wine is lushly textured, with waves of sweet, dark fruits. There is length, purity complexity and the structure to age along with endnotes of...

Stately ruby red, raspberry and cassis fruits, still young, needs another few years to fully open and integrate, but everything is there for a brilliant wine with pleasure. This is a château that always takes its time...

(95-97+ points) I was able to taste the 2022 Château Beychevelle on multiple occasions, and it never failed to impress me. Based on 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot that will see 18 months in...

Delivers fabulous aromas of crushed red fruits, with leather, tar, tobacco and mint. Full-bodied, offering supersoft and silky tannins, as well as a beautiful polish. Open and luscious, with amazing richness of fruit and...

A brilliant Léoville, continuing to impress as it has every time I have tasted it. The width and depth of the ripe tannins is matched pace for pace by an elegance to the cassis, bilberry, blackcurrant fruit. As it opens...

(91-93 points)Barrel sample. Rich and smooth, with tannins that are ripe, some spice and also intense acidity. The blackcurrant character is dominant. ROGER VOSS

While I loved the 2010 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou on release I’ve always preferred the 2009. However, the 2010 showed sensationally on this occasion, and while in a different style than the 2009, it’s unquestionably as...

More proof that St-Julien was making quality wines this year. This one majors on rich fruit extraction, layered over with a heavy dose of tannins that retract their claws just at the right moment. Expect big shoulders and...

This wine was added to the output of Château Léoville Las Cases alongside Clos de Marquis from the 2007 vintage. It is technically the ‘true’ second wine as Clos de Marquis comes from entirely separate vines. Not an...

Complex aromas of dried flowers, dark fruits such as currants and plums and then a wet-earth undertone. Wet licorice as well. Full body, firm and silky tannins and an entrancing finish. Tight and polished. Drink in 2022...

(92–94 points) Barrel sample. With so much spicy fruit, intensely ripe blackberry flavors and solid tannins, all the elements of excellence are here, and powered by a firm structure. This wine has weight and a fine...

(WE 94–96 points) A rich, spicy and smoky wine, this has generous tannins to balance the blackberry fruit flavors. The structure is already impressive, showing ripeness as well as density, which is promising for plenty...

A gorgeously silky, juicy and balanced glass of wine, this combines elegant richness of sweet cocoa and blackberry, with tons of power and a feeling of holding itself in check. This is signature St Julien, concentrated...

The core of this red is loaded with pure plum, blueberry and black currant fruit flavors. The polished structure is integrated, with alluring ganache, anise and sweet tobacco notes throughout, all in a polished and...

I continue to absolutely love what this estate puts in the bottle, and it remains an incredible value given its quality. The 2020 Château Saint-Pierre (Saint-Julien) reveals a deeper ruby/purple hue to go with gorgeous...

The 2009 Ducru-Beaucaillou is pure perfection and a much more sexy, opulent wine compared to the 2010. Crème de cassis, licorice, spice-box, lead pencil shavings and dried flower notes all – literally – soar from the...

A stunningly complex and complete nose of flowers, dark fruits, and minerals. Very perfumed and subtle at the same time. The palate is full, yet tight and powerful with perfect tannins and a long, long finish. The quality...

(VN 96-98 points) The 2021 Ducru-Beaucaillou is a pretty significant departure from the past, as it is nearly pure Cabernet Sauvignon. A deep, aristocratic wine, the 2021 possesses remarkable intensity from start to...

Hard to beat in the lineup - deep rich fruits, so much tension and power still that run right through the palate. Chocolate shavings, tobacco, cigar box, slate, crushed earth, this has depth and concentration but also...

Lastly, the 2020 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is another legendary wine from this château that has been on an incredible run over the past decade. A blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot that was brought up all in...