The 2022 from Alexander van Beek and the team at Giscours is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 3% each Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. I find a real sense of fragrant harmony but also bright energy here...

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...

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.

Among the oldest estates in St Emilion, dating back to the Middle Ages, this is pure restrained limestone, and stands as an excellent reflection of why this type of terroir worked so well in 2018. The ph for example, is...

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

The 2018 Prieure-Lichine has a deep garnet purple color. It opens with notes of stewed plums and crème de cassis, laced with cedar and Indian spices, leading to notes of sassafras and chargrill. Medium to full-bodied, the...

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...

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...

The 2023 Cos d'Estournel, which was bottled in July 2025, was tasted on two visits, showing much better the second in December. It has an intense nose with predominantly black fruit, violet and fresh mint emerging with...

This impressive red lets warm paving stone, smoldering tobacco and iris hints peek out from behind its prodigious core of cassis and plum reduction, before a cascade of black tea and loam asserts itself on the finish...

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

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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 Haut-Bailly has a very defined bouquet that is typical Haut-Bailly, with black plum, incense, hints of licorice and light marine scents that are very well defined. The oak is also very well integrated. The palate...

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)...

The Bonnies' work in the vineyard and the vines' maturity is paying off in more complexity, precision and silkier tannins, with elevated, layered aromas and flavours. The bouquet is herbs and lavender, the juicy, open and...

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

The 2020 L'Hêtre has a more restrained and nuanced bouquet that unfolds in the glass, with more mineralité and terroir expression than the preceding d'Aiguilhe. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiseled tannins and...

Precise and minerally on the nose, with fresh, chalky red berries and hints of tobacco and fine herbs. Tense and al dente on the palate, with fine, silky tannins, transparency and texture. There is initial balance to it...