In 2019, 50% less Lafite was released en-primeur, at a discount of 20% compared to 2018. Surprisingly forward and beautifully balanced, this has a glorious combination of richness, purity of fruit, pronounced lead...

I love the purity of the 2018 Château Grand-Puy Lacoste, a ripe, upfront, expressive beauty that has loads of currant and cassis notes as well as flowers, spicy wood, graphite, and hints of tobacco. Full-bodied, rich...

(JD 95-97 points) Blue fruits, sappy herbs, flowers, and subtle graphite notes all emerge from the 2023 Château Pontet-Canet, a medium to full-bodied, concentrated Pauillac that has plenty of mid-palate flesh and...

Reminiscent of the 1995 Lafite but modern, this wine is extremely aromatic, showing lead pencil, currants, blackberries, black olives and smoke with some gunpowder. Notes of iodine, stone, blood and ink. It is...

The second wine of Château Pichon-Longueville is soft, perfumed and delicious. It's a wine with plenty of juicy fruit, though at this stage the wood is too dominant. The finish shows a hint of spice. ROGER VOSS

(92-94 points) The 2023 Château Clerc Milon is gorgeous, with a salty, slightly bloody character in its red and black fruits, flowers, chalky mineral, and spicy oak-like aromatics. These carry to a medium to full-bodied...

(92-94 points) Including slightly more Cabernet Sauvignon than usual, the 2023 Château D'Armailhac is based on 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, aging in 50% new oak. It's...

This shows blackcurrants, blackberries, violets, lavender, pencil shavings and hints of metal shavings. Medium- to full-bodied with a firm and juicy character of extremely polished and integrated tannins that caress your...

The grand vin from Nicolas Glumineau is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, and the élevage was in 65% new oak and 35% second-fill oak barrels for 19 months. Remarkably it includes 17.5% press wine...

(JD 93-95 points) The Grand Vin 2023 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste checks in as 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Merlot (the 11th to the 28th of September) with the élevage in 75% new French oak. Its deeper plum hue is...