The 2022 Giscours has a very classy, sophisticated bouquet with mineral-laden black fruit, wilted violet and crushed stone, precise with seamlessly integrated oak. The palate is silky smooth, beautifully balanced...

A classy, balanced and sumptuous du Tertre, a ton of appellation and vintage signature. Lace-like tannins, overperforms the estate at the time, showing just how much quality and value is out there for this vintage...

The 2015 Lafite-Rothschild is slightly higher in tone than the Mouton-Rothschild on the nose, with scents of blackberry, iodine, cedar and crushed violet emerging with time in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied and...

(92 + points) La Lagune 2019 is deep garnet-purple in color. Notes of warm cassis, blackberry preserves, and fruitcake waft from the glass, leading to hints of cloves, dried herbs, and pencil lead. The medium-bodied...

This wine, with its rich tannins and powerful structure is impressive. It has great promise with its black chocolate aroma and solid black fruits. Drink from 2028. — Roger Voss

The 2020 Lascombes has a discrete, finely delineated bouquet that unfolds in the glass with blackberry, bilberry, crushed violet and a touch of iodine. The palate is medium-bodied with sour cherry and brown spices on the...

This is stylish, with perfumy black tea and smoldering charcoal aromas followed by lightly mulled plum, fig and blackberry fruit. An echo of juniper shows on the mineral-edged finish. Drink now through 2024. — JM

2010 Lalande-Borie has a feisty and animated bouquet, more red fruit than black, with attractive pencil lead scents coming through with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with gentle grip, tobacco and graphite, quite...

Such gorgeous fruit, with extremely polished tannins and a persistent finish. The new oak comes out at the finish, but it should melt together with age. A joy to taste now but better in 2016.

2018 was especially excellent for the red wine from this estate. It’s seductive, velvety, generous and round, and it’s bursting with scents of berries, herbs and peonies. It’s also balanced, despite the high alcohol.

Crème de cassis, spicy oak, graphite, and lead pencil shavings, with that classic Saint-Estèphe damp earth character, all emerge from the 2023 Château Cos D'Estournel, a deep purple-hued effort based on 65% Cabernet...

Elegant and balanced, this offers floral blueberry and cocoa nib details inflected with lemon thyme and anise notes. The palate is smooth in texture, with generous plum and berry flavors. There's a late burst of energy...

Deep garnet-brick in color, the 2014 La Mission Haut-Brion needs a swirl or two to unlock notes of blackberry pie, creme de cassis, and espresso plus nuances of truffle, tapenade, and fragrant soil. The medium to...

A blend of 52% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon raised just about all in new barrels, with a tiny amount in once-used barrels and foudre (roughly 10% of the blend), the 2023 Château Cheval Blanc is an...

A warm vintage during harvest, and this is showing a rich plum colour, with a satin texture that speaks to alcohols that are higher than usual in this part of the Médoc peninsula. Great quality though, and the Petit...

Another excellent year, the 1995 and 1996 vintage have definitely held up in colour and structure. The 1995 perhaps has the markings of a slightly hotter year in terms of the fruit ripeness, which veers towards fig...

This 2005 is really coming into its own, with soft, welcoming rose bud, chalk, bilberry, cocoa bean and tobacco. The tannins remain well structured, and you can see the muscles that kept this pretty closed for the first...

The 2023 Léoville-Poyferré was a serious proposition when I tasted it from barrel. Now, in bottle since June '25, it has a typically sensual and very pure bouquet that seems to give the olfactory senses a metaphorical...

From healthy yields and a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc aged 16 months in 50% new French oak, the 2023 Château Haut-Bailly is an ultra-classy Haut-Bailly with...

Stolid at first, this is inky, dark and tightly wound, but violet and iris notes steadily emerge as a core of cold cassis, plum paste and blackberry puree slowly awakens. The finish is dusted with cold charcoal, and a...

The 2023 Malescot Saint-Exupéry is quite discreet on the nose, light brambly black fruit commingling with cedar and forest floor. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins. Well-balanced and harmonious, there is a...

The 2023 d'Armailhac has a delightful bouquet, beautifully defined with pure black fruit laced with graphite. The oak is seamlessly integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, laden with (again)...

A blend of 55.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38.8% Merlot, and 5.4% Petit Verdot, Le Pauillac de Château Latour 2019 is medium to deep garnet‑purple in color. It comes bounding out of the glass with exuberant notes of black...

With roughly 4,960 cases produced, the 2023 Château Bellefont-Belcier comes from a brilliant terroir just beside Larcis Ducasse and Pavie (as well as Troplong Mondot and Tertre Roteboeuf). Based on 72% Merlot, 18%...

A blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5.5% Cabernet Franc, and 3.5% Petit Verdot aged 18 months in 60% new French oak, the 2023 Château Branaire-Ducru offers terrific aromatics of pure cassis, graphite, lots of...

The first year with sufficient quality grapes, plus an improved global outlook, at least with the Chinese market, to allow the new owners to show what they had achieved over the previous four or five years. It is one of...