What a brilliant vintage this is - just so complete. Honestly at this level, where prices don't change that dramatically between vintages, you should go for the 2016 if you have the option. It's on a different level in...

Inky depths to the colour, this is powerful, full of character. Grilled sandalwood oak notes are dominant on the attack, with the bitter almond and cracked black pepper on the finish not just welcome but essential to...

One of the best values in Bordeaux out there, the 2016 Arbalest comes from a mix of the Right and Left Banks and is 75% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Ripe, medium to...

As to the reds, the 2016 Domaine de Chevalier is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc that saw an extended maceration, malo in barrel, and 18 months in just 35%...

Bright flowers and attractive red berries on offer here with a really succulent, velvety palate that offers rich red-plum flavors. Long and juicy resolve. A blend of 74 per cent merlot, 19 per cent cabernet franc and...

Very attractive, ripe dark berries with a meaty edge that delivers a very compelling wine from the outset. Quite plush and elegant tannins with a smooth, juicy and attractive finish that holds long and is saturated in...

Dense and rich second wine of Nenin with dark berries, chocolate and hazelnuts. Full body, round and chewy tannins, yet polished and finished. Needs two or three years to soften, at least. Try after 2023.

Very ripe blueberries here, married to delicate, smoky-oak and baking-spice character. Concentrated and succulent with a wonderful, mineral freshness at the long, energetic finish. A very flexible food-wine. Drink or hold.

A voluptuous wine, this is rich and fruity yet properly balanced by a magnificent structure. Pure, crisp and packed with a black currant flavor, this will be a remarkable wine as it develops. Still young, it needs many...

A warm wine rich in tannins and with succulent berry fruits, this is both powerful and elegant. Its density doesn't detract from the fruitiness that shines out of the wine and balances with the structured aging potential...

Tight and closed but clearly going to power out of the gate in five or six years. Shows depth and persistency, with precision and balance to the fruit flavours, feels like every base is covered, laced through with...

Showing a serious depth of color, the wine offers a wealth of dark fruits on the nose. From there you find spice box, leafy tobacco, cigar box, cherry pipe tobacco and sweet coffee bean aromas. On the palate, which is...

A very floral and gently leafy edge with lighter red fruit, leading to a very smoothly fleshy, red-fruited palate that’s sleek, even and elegant. Drink or hold.

A superb vintage all over Bordeaux, and absolutely one that you should be searching out with the Crus Classés de Graves. You can wait for this to soften for sure, because the tannins are pretty racy right now, squaring up...

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...

Wonderful, fragrant blackberry and cherry nose with a delicate touch of oak. Concentrated and elegant with a beautiful balance of finely etched dry tannins and very bright acidity. Long, crisp and minerally finish with a...

This is the best wine from the Becot family yet! The wine is sexy, fleshy, opulent, polished and packed with all the fresh, ripe, silky, pure red fruits you need. The crushed rock, thyme and floral accents make this even...

After falling into decline in the 1950s, Château Brown was revived after it was bought by businessman Bernard Barthe in 1994, to be taken over again 20 years later by the Mau family. Now led by fifth-generation...

Very attractive, plush and rich red and dark-fruit aromas with beautifully integrated oak and youthful, spicy complexity. The palate has lush, seamless and velvety tannins that are elegant yet powerful and deliver a silky...

This nearly 200-acre estate lies in the south of the Margaux appellation. The wine is another great success in a series of superb years. It is rich but the structure and finely textured fruit give it style and longevity...

This may not be the most concentrated wine from the appellation, but it’s a very appealing introduction to modern-style St.-Emilion. Plenty of mixed berries and a hint of vanilla on the medium-full body. Then the chalky...

The Bonnie family's estate has produced a richly structured wine, full of the ripe tannins indicative of the vintage. To balance the structure, powerful flavors of black currant and dark berries give ripeness. It is a...

Another one of those hidden gems from the Castillon region of Bordeaux, the 2016 Château Montlandrie is a rock star of a wine that readers should snatch up! From more clay soils (the region is mostly limestone) and with...

Plenty of menthol, blackberry and blackcurrant aromas in this elegant, medium-weight Haut-Médoc that’s got as much freshness as ripeness and a long, clean, mineral and herbal finish. An incredibly food-flexible wine!...

Packed with young tannins, this wine shows the structure of the vintage as well as its fresh and perfumed fruit. The combination will develop to produce a restrained and elegant wine. Drink from 2025.

I am spellbound by the aromas of crushed blackberries, licorice, black tea and violets. It’s full-bodied yet so intense and linear. Powerful tannins with superb polish and focus give an amazing texture. Complex and...

Love the combination of dark berries, sweet tobacco and wet earth here. Full-bodied, juicy and chewy with lots of tannins, solid fruit concentration and a medium finish. A blend of 75 per cent merlot and 25 per cent...

A rocking effort that brings the goods, the 2016 Château Montviel is a tiny production cuvée based on 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc brought up in new barrels. Surpassing the terrific 2015, it boasts a deep purple...