Following the pattern of the early releases db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay starts his appellation-by-appellation guide to the en primeur campaign in Pauillac finding some impressive wines given the context of the growing season from which they were produced – although fewer than in other appellations It is usual for me to begin my appellation-by-appellation profiles of the new vintage either in the South or the North of the Médoc But with Châteaux Batailley and Pontet Canet having already released their wines and with a further flurry of Pauillac releases due in the days to come it seems appropriate to break with tradition and to start my vineyard-level analysis of the 2024 vintage in Pauillac I do so with a slight sense of trepidation when the wines of the appellation are set in the meteorological conditions of the growing season that produced them of all the leading appellations of Bordeaux in 2024 Pauillac is as one might perhaps imagine in a vintage whose meteorological challenges were very unevenly distributed as in a sense the table below already suggests was not more severely impacted by rainfall before and during the growing season than its immediate neighbours to the north or to the south three of the first growths – hardly lack the financial and human resources required to deal with the challenges of the vintage if anything the metrological data summarised in Table 1 might even suggest that Pauillac was partially spared in comparison with Table 1: Rainfall during the vintage (relative to 30-year average) Source: calculated from Gavin Quinney’s Bordeaux 2024 weather and harvest report and https://www.infoclimat.fr/climatologie/ (* – Graves Bourg & Blaye; ** for Bordeaux-Mérignac alone); château level data provided by the properties themselves But we need to be careful here. For, as set out in more detail in my profile of the vintage total rainfall levels even at the vineyard level cannot be taken as a simple proxy for the degree of sufferance of the vines At least as significant was the precise timing of the downpours that characterised the growing season and the temperature in the vineyard during and immediately afterwards Pauillac was not favoured at all – with most properties suffering not only intense mildew pressure unprecedentedly early (before budburst) and then almost without interruption until June but also a long and drawn out flowering and uneven pollination The result was significant problems of coulure and millerandage and the need to discard an unprecedentedly high proportion of the potential crop (which was either left on the vines or became the victim of strict visual with Pauillac one of only two appellations to see its average vineyard yield drop below 30 hl/ha But since average vineyard yields have fallen more significantly over the last decade in Pomerol than in the Médoc it is Pauillac that in the end recorded the lowest appellation yields relative to its 10-year average Table 2: Average vineyard yield by appellation (hl/ha)  Source: calculated from Duanes data compiled by the CIVB Service Economie et Etudes has had a significant impact on the final composition of the wines With Merlot suffering most from mildew losses from botrytis at the end of the ripening season (and the higher yielding Petit Verdot often difficult to blend) 2024 sees unprecedentedly high levels of Cabernet Sauvignon in the grands vins of the leading estates Table 3: Percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the grands vins of leading Pauillac estates and final yield (hl/ha) The wines are certainly impressive in the context of the growing season from which they were produced But there seem to me fewer vintage-transcending wines that in St Julien and Margaux to the south and even St-Estèphe to the north The somewhat austere and even stern character of the vintage does not seem to flatter Pauillac The elevated levels of acidity in many of these wines render them a little harsh on the finish just as the incorporation of often considerable amounts of press wine (in some cases close to 20 per cent) so often seems to come at the expense of clarity precision and delineation in the mid-palate come perhaps closest to transcending the limits of the vintage Pichon Baron and Pichon Comtesse de Lalande have all made exquisite wines of finesse elegance and poise and Haut-Bages Libéral shows what can be achieved from biodynamic viticulture with an amazing precision and vibrancy that places it on a par with the greatest recent successes from this exceptional and newly resurgent property For full tasting notes, see here Your email address will not be published. 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Two mini-verticals from Bordeaux's Fonbadet and Château Pauillac suggest a bright future for these under-the-radar properties to watch It's not every day that Wine Spectator's James Molesworth finds a new under-the-radar château to watch in Bordeaux, but today he found two such estates, in the high-rent Pauillac district no less ... Full access to our database of more than 425,000 wine ratings Early access to reviews on our editors' favorite just-rated wines The 2024 Bordeaux barrel tastings conclude with Bordeaux whites and sweet dessert wines fro… The 2024 Bordeaux barrel tastings continue with Merlot-based red wines from elite Right … The 2024 Bordeaux barrel tastings continue with Merlot-based red wines from Pomerol and … The 2024 Bordeaux barrel tastings continue in Pessac-Léognan at Château Malartic-Lagravière … The 2024 Bordeaux barrel tastings continue with Cabernet- and Merlot-based Margaux reds at … The 2024 Bordeaux barrel tastings continue with Cabernet- and Merlot-based grands vins … Pauillac always seems to deliver the goods and in the hot and dry vintage of 2022 the gravel soils coped extremely well BORDEAUX 2022 IN BOTTLE SCORE TABLE: Top-scoring wines with 93 points or above Individual appellation analysis and top-scoring wines Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail and Chivas Brothers have introduced the latest addition to the ultra-premium Ultimate Cask Collection: Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Pauillac Cask Finish The limited-edition travel retail-exclusive blended Scotch whisky launched in selected duty-free locations across the UAE The expression is created by blending a selection of malt and grain whiskies from distilleries across Scotland The whisky is then fully finished in Pauillac wine casks sourced from one of France’s most esteemed wine-producing regions imparting full-bodied and refined flavour characteristics the Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Pauillac Cask Finish has been developed under the expertise of Chivas Regal Master Blender Sandy Hyslop It is presented in the signature 1-litre Chivas Regal glass bottle embellished with purple and gold flourishes The whisky offers rich raspberry coulis and fresh vanilla aromas Travellers can discover the Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Pauillac Cask Finish through exclusive activations guided tastings and in-store experiences that underscore 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global travel retail – another fantastic coup for Pernod Ricard GTR.” ✈ Subscribe to our newsletter for critical marketing information delivered to your inbox is relaunching its annual whisky festival under the name Whisky Social Club 1 is the inaugural release in a collection of limited-edition single malts that celebrate the pioneering spirit of James ‘The Major’ Grant Here’s a chance for retail visitors to TFWA Asia Pacific in Singapore (11-15 May) to win a fabulous prize in what surely ranks as the strangest of all our popular Strange Predictions contest hosted by Strange Nature Gin of New Zealand Copyright © The Moodie Davitt Report | Website by Yellowball We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website Please click on one of the buttons below to accept We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorized as 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analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " Part of the ultra-premium Ultimate Cask Collection the expression is available in duty free across UAE Pernod Ricard GTR (PR GTR) and Chivas Brothers have unveiled their newest global travel retail exclusive blended Scotch whisky: the Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Ultimate Cask Collection Widely available in duty free locations across UAE travellers are invited to engage with the latest expression through  guided tastings and exclusive store activations highlighting the premiumisation of Chivas Regal the Chivas Regal 18 Year Pauillac Cask Finish is created by blending malt and grain whiskies chosen from various distilleries across Scotland The whisky is then drawn down and finished in Pauillac wine casks from one of the best wine producing regions of France Released as part of the ultra-premium Ultimate Cask Collection the Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Pauillac Cask Finish expression is bottled at a strength of 48% ABV by Chivas Regal Master Blender and comes in the familiar 1L Chivas Regal glass bottle with purple and gold decoration Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail VP Global Marketing Liya Zhang said: “Chivas Regal excels at innovation and We are proud of this latest iteration from the Chivas Regal Ultimate Cask Collection and its exclusivity to global travel retail – another fantastic coup for Pernod Ricard GTR.” Nick Blacknell added: “We are proud to present the Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Ultimate Cask Collection Pauillac Cask Finish expression in the new look bottle which features a 25% glass-weight reduction and fully recyclable outer packaging launched last year The new Chivas Regal 18 bottle not only showcases our dedication to luxury but also highlights our ongoing efforts to reduce our environmental impact – something important to us and to our travellers.” Tagged with: Sign up for email newsletters for up-to-date news While impressive in the context of the growing season from which they were produced there seem to me fewer vintage-transcending wines from the 2024 vintage in Pauillac compared to some of the other appellations writes db‘s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay For the full assessment on Pauillac, see here I have again decided to provide an indicative rating for each wine alongside the published comment All such comments and ratings are necessarily subjective (they cannot be anything else when one thinks about it) I would urge you to look at the two together and My aim is more to describe the wine in the context of the vintage the appellation and recent vintages of the same and similar wines reflect my subjective evaluations and relative preferences between wines I hope that my comments give you at least enough information to be able to recalibrate my ratings and to align them more closely to your own taste my ratings span a considerable range (from close to the very top of the scale downwards) I have decided not to publish scores or notes for classed growths (or equivalent wines) that I have rated below 90 (here the range 89-91) and for crus bourgeois (or equivalent wines) that I have rated below 89 (here the range 88-90) élevage is likely to be very important in determining the final quality in bottle of these wines I am no soothsayer and cannot predict how that will turn out (another reason for the use of banded ratings) But all en primeur ratings should be treated with caution and taken with a certain pinch of salt Château d’Armailhac (Pauillac; 72% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14% Merlot; 14% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.69; 12.9% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin and then with Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy at Mouton Rothschild) with lovely dark berry fruits and a certain creaminess It has a rather narrower frame than its stablemate Clerc Milon but with the same beautifully crystalline core there’s a slight ferrous hint to the minerality despite its essential juiciness and the vibrancy that brings I find just a little taciturn and stern – though less so when re-tasted at Mouton It is classical in its way but from a somewhat less sunny vintage than is the norm and evidently so with a notable lift in the acidity towards the finish Château Batailley (Pauillac; 81% Cabernet Sauvignon; 15% Merlot; 4% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 24 hl/ha after significant losses on the sorting table; 13% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin and then at the property with Frédéric Castéja) This will be released with a special red label to mark the 100th anniversary of the acquisition of the estate in 1924 by the Borie-Castéja family it’s a little austere and almost a tad foursquare for the vintage It’s almost as if it needs to show itself to be truly ‘of Pauillac’ and definitively not from any appellation further to the south It feels more stern and taciturn as a consequence (but that is the style here with more extraction than many of its neighbours – and that extraction has been very well-managed) I find this a little less oaky than it often is en primeur Carruades de Lafite (Pauillac; 47% Merlot; 45% Cabernet Sauvignon; 6% Cabernet Franc; 2% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 32 hl/ha; 12.9% alcohol; tasted at Duhart-Milon with Saskia de Rothschild) A little closed aromatically when tasted after Duhart under leaden clouds in the chai at Duhart-Milon The acidity gathers towards the finish and contributes to a sapid wave of energising freshness but it also destabilises the evolution of the wine over the palate The slender frame fills out a little with aeration One senses a little the challenges of the vintage and there’s a lot of Merlot in this – not the easiest varietal in these parts in this vintage Château Clerc Milon (Pauillac; 24% Merlot; 66% Cabernet Sauvignon; 8% Cabernet Franc; 1% Petit Verdot; 1% Carménère; pH 3.72; 13% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin and then with Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy at Mouton-Rothschild) Quite earthy and with a saline-ferrous hint to its minerality this is impressively monumental in a vintage where that is rare indeed more herbal and more subtle too when re-tasted at Mouton Rothschild this is a wine that feels very ‘Pauillac’ in the vintage – denser despite its succulent and juicy mid-palate stern and solid – stolid even – than recent vintages Some vintages here feel sunny (solaire); this feels distinctly un-sunny Silky in its texture and characteristically fresh and vibrant Château Croizet-Bages (Pauillac; 70% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30% Merlot; a final yield of 45 hl/ha; 13% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin) I like very much the Cabernet Sauvignon signature to the aromatics here tight and taut in comparison with its peers and yet the tannins are more severe on the finish where one loses the succulence to be found in the mid-palate it’s certainly much more fine-grained and crystalline than it used to be Château Duhart Milon (Pauillac; 78% Cabernet Sauvignon; 22% Merlot; a final yield of 32 hl/ha; 13% alcohol; tasted at Duhart-Milon with Saskia de Rothschild) Redoubtably ‘Duhart’ with is intensely dark-berry fruit profile This is a wine that would be austere even stern were it not for the sheer quality of the tannins that render it almost a little spiritual – an impression reinforced by the subtle floral and incense notes They remind me a little of the descent into a cool underground chapel quite succulent and with a pleasingly spherical core generously enrobed – almost encrusted – by slightly grippy This has a lovely mouthfeel if not quite the complexity of recent great vintages Fleur de Pédesclaux (Pauillac; 46% Cabernet Sauvignon; 34% Merlot; 11% Petit Verdot; 9% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.66; IPT 57; 12.9% alcohol; tasted at Lafon-Rochet) This feels much less like a way of using up the left-overs than many second wines in the vintage Simple but very well made and with none of the problems of the vintage evident Very ‘Forts de Latour’ with lots of cedar and graphite There’s also a lovely glassy purity to the loganberry and bramble fruit Fluid and bright but with that gravitas of Latour Château Grand-Puy Ducasse (Pauillac; 56% Cabernet Sauvignon; 39% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 43 hl/ha; 13% alcohol; tasted twice The capacity for parcel vinification afforded by the new winery has really helped here highly expressive and very classical in its Pauillac signature There’s lots of natural sweetness to the dark berry and cassis fruit a lovely hint of wild rosemary and thyme and great clarity and an almost crystalline purity that is rare in any vintage from here and rare in this vintage in the appellation Very much a success for this newly resurgent property Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste (Pauillac; 78% Cabernet Sauvignon; 22% Merlot; a final yield of 38 hl/ha with a little coulure and millerandage responsible for the comparatively modest losses; pH 3.6; aging in oak 66% of it new; 13% alcohol; tasted at the property with Emeline Borie) some red berries bringing additional interest Not too ample a frame and that seems to extend the vertical dimension – giving this more depth and a milles feuilles texture The gentle extraction and the skilful management of the challenges of the vintage in the vineyard were the keys here Les Griffons des Pichon Baron (Pauillac; 56% Merlot; 42% Cabernet Sauvignon; 2% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 20 hl/ha; pH 3.62; 12.9% alcohol; tasted at the property with Pierre Montégut) and more pixilated on the palate than either Les Tourelles or Pibran Glossy with a lovely ‘Pichon’ sheen to the glassy mid-palate with a little graphite and walnut for good measure Château Haut-Bages Libéral (Pauillac; 94% Cabernet Sauvignon; 5% Merlot; 1% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 30 hl/ha; the pH 3.57 is quite high for the vintage indicating the ripeness achieved; 13% alcohol; certified organic and biodynamic; Eric Boissenot is the consultant; tasted with Claire Lurton) dynamic and energetic with loads of fresh red berry fruits almost jumping from the glass The Pauillac graphite arrives with more and more aeration and with it the fruit profile darkens a little This will not be difficult to identify blind (though that’s always easier said than done) with impressive density and compactness with the tannins discretely circumscribing the parameters of the flow of the wine and drawing everything back to a well-defined spine calcaire identity is very evident on the grippy A great success as one now expects from Claire Lurton and her accomplished team Both gracious and yet vivid at the same time (not words used a lot this vintage Château Haut-Batailley (Pauillac; 68% Cabernet Sauvignon; 26% Merlot; 6% Petit Verdot; IPT 70; pH 3.63; 12.9% alcohol; tasted first at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin and then re-tasted at Lynch-Bages with Jean-Charles Cazes) this is fresh and croquant in its quite complex fruit profile – quite a lot of red berry fruits alongside the al dente darker berries and the similarly ‘just ripe’ red and darker stone fruits This is another Pauillac that I find just a little strict and almost austere but at the same time very northern Médoc in character – the appellation divide between St Julien (in this vintage ‘of the south’) and Pauillac (in this I do love the gently floral aromatics in the empty glass A vin de garde despite the softness of the tannins Château Lafite Rothschild (Pauillac; 96% Cabernet Sauvignon; 3% Merlot; 1% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 32 hl/ha and representing just a third of the total production; 12.9% alcohol; the first vintage certified organic; tasted at Duhart-Milon with Saskia de Rothschild) Like its stablemate Duhart this is very spherical in its shape in the mouth with gloriously refined cashmere tannins encircling the fresh crisp and crunchy dark berries and the black cherries – just à point – that form the dense and compact core around which the wine is structured vertically the wine is again highly structured by a very well-defined central spine around which the graphite seems to gather with the tannins in this dimension stretching out the fruit over the palate the austerity of the vintage reining it back and rendering this a little more ethereal and also a little more intellectual in the process Château Latour (Pauillac; 94.6% Cabernet Sauvignon; 5.2% Merlot; 0.2% Petit Verdot; IPT 79; 5.5% vin de presse; 12.85% alcohol; it’s difficult to get to taste this wine this year with the yield losses from coulure most severe amongst the old vines; the grand vin represents 44% of the total production; tasted at the property) Given the difficulties here arising from the mildew and the difficult floraison Not overly dense but certainly a step up in concentration from Les Forts and Le Pauillac a little more energetic and less plush in a way the fruit presented as if in layers of fine silk The acidity in an essential part of the structure of the wine and it gathers a little towards the finish But that also renders this very sapid and juicy and I love the aerial menthol note on the quite saline and mineral finish Not the most complex of recent vintages but very fine and highly refined Château Lynch-Bages (Pauillac; 70% Cabernet Sauvignon; 24% Merlot; 3% Cabernet Franc; 3% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 29.5 hl/ha; pH 3.67; IPT 76; aging in oak 75% of which is new; 13% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin then re-tasted at Lynch-Bages with Jean-Charles Cazes) not unlike Grand-Puy Ducasse at least in that respect The fruit is a little sweeter and this is more floral than any other of the wines of the appellation at least when presented at the UGC press tasting a touch of saffron and a hint of rose petal fluid in the mouth and actually quite sinuous for Lynch-Bages this has considerable aging potential even if it will be delightfully accessible even in its youth above all in Pauillac – that seems to transcend the vintage I might pick this as ‘Lunch Bags’ but I’m not sure I’d pick the vintage in 10 years’ time Château Lynch-Moussas (Pauillac; 78% Cabernet Sauvignon; 22% Merlot; 13% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin and then again at Batailley with Frédéric Castéja) A bright and very pure red-berry fruit – loganberry and raspberry – mark this out as they are far from common in the wines of the appellation in this vintage which it typically darker berry fruited the fruit profile darkens a little with the arrival of damsons and purple plums This is fresh but the acidity is very well managed and balanced the oak is very moderate and the result is a finely-finessed wine that will drink well young but there’s a sense of Pauillac authenticity than here I like very much Château Mouton Rothschild (Pauillac; 93% Cabernet Sauvignon; 7% Merlot; yields above the appellation average; pH 3.71; IPT 63; 12.9% alcohol; with Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy at Mouton Rothschild) but a little less at this early stage then Le Petit Mouton But is still gives a sense of how this will evolve aromatically I find this beguiling and enticing in equal measure focussed and then crystalline in the mouth Here we find the darker stone fruits – damson and cherry and a hint of the cedar to come There’s more density (still) than Le Petit Mouton and more forward momentum too again spherical at the core but pushing into the cheeks so with considerable amplitude and a density and concentration largely absent elsewhere Very aerial on the finish with a lovely Cabernet menthol lift This feels exceptionally classy and achieves a greatness in a vintage where that is extremely rare Pastourelle de Clerc Milon (Pauillac; 49% Merlot; 41% Cabernet Sauvignon; 9% Cabernet Franc; 1% Carménère; pH 3.64; 13.2% alcohol) Ample and quite profound with good concentration for the vintage A weightier perception of layering gives this more of a sense of profundity The tannins are a little grainer on the finish but we have much the same crystallinity and purity This I find more generous than the rather more austere and linear d’Armailhac succulent but definitively light and aerial It has gracious tannins with just a little grip Château Pauillac (Pauillac; 95% Cabernet Sauvignon; 5% Merlot; a final yield of just 20 hl/ha from the 1.5 hectares here encircled by the parcels of the grands crus classés; from Domaine Peyronie; Michel Rolland and Julien Viaud are the consultants here) there’s no great secret to where this comes from and it’s good to be able to report that it does indeed taste like it comes from Pauillac too Plush and quite plump and juicy on the attack though with quite a lot of new oak still to resolve this has a pleasing Cabernet fruit profile and is very classical in style The tannins gather towards the finish and are just a little assertive and almost a shade dry Château Pédesclaux (Pauillac; 68% Cabernet Sauvignon; 21% Merlot; 10% Cabernet Franc; 1% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 36 hl/ha – coulure on the Cabernet being the issue here; pH 3.66; IPT 55; 13% alcohol; tasted at Lafon-Rochet with Vencent Bache-Gabrielsen) A product of the ‘Cabernisation’ (their term) of the vineyard here over the last 15 years underscored by the strict selection for the grand vin Not especially ample in frame but with lots of gravitas cashmere tannins and an impressive sense of layering This seems simple at first but when the fine-grained tannins start to grip this release a great torrent of fresh dark berry fruits as if pumped into the mouth from the cheeks bringing great sapidity and textural interest never opulent but generous and finely detailed Le Petit Mouton (Pauillac; 67% Cabernet Sauvignon; 26 Merlot; 5% Cabernet Franc; 2% Petit Verdot; IPT 56; a final yield above the appellation average; pH 3.62; 13% alcohol after a little chaptalisation; with Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy at Mouton Rothschild) There’s more cedar here than at any other address mouth filling with the lovely sensation of the viscosity gathering in the form of tears the slowly descend the cheeks A gentle pinch and lift towards a fantail finish This could be the grand vin of an earlier epoch The pick of the first growth seconds in 2024 and vintage transcendent Château Pibran (Pauillac; 54% Merlot – a little more than usual with more of the Cabernet making the grade for the grand vin; 46% Cabernet Sauvignon; on limestone and gravel; a final yield of 20 hl/ha; 40% new oak; 13% alcohol; pH 3.61; tasted at the property with Pierre Montégut) Croquant bright red and darker berry fruits This is very ‘Pichon’ in style with gracious fine-grained tannins and a crystalline core and a certain sense of layering The tannins are just a tad dry on the finish Château Pichon Baron (Pauillac; 87% CS – almost at the highest ever level; 13% Merlot; a final yield of 20 hl/ha; pH 3.71; 12.7% alcohol; 70% new oak for around 18 months; bottles; tasted at the property with Pierre Montégut) This has gorgeous and quite distinctive aromatics There’s a delicate soft petal florality here which is very pretty with milles feuilles of fine silken sheets Not massive in its amplitude and that allows a focus on the vertical range and hence the depth it appears if not slender then certainly sleek and delicate is has very considerable depth with a crumbliness to the tannins at the base of the palate that is both very ‘Pichon Baron’ and very classical Château Pichon Comtesse de Lalande (Pauillac; 83% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14% Merlot; 3% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 20 hl/ha – on Cabernet it was millerandage and coulure for the Merlot it was mildew and millerandage that were responsible for the losses; IPT 70; pH 3.7; press wine at around 16-18%; no sulphites were used in the vinification process; 12.7% alcohol after a little chaptalisation of some plots; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin then again at the property with Florian Genty; Eric Boissenot is the consultant) less of the cedar that one often discovers from this en primeur a twist of the pencil sharpener and a little hint of freshly crushed green peppercorns with the aromatic lift they bring but there’s less of the velour of recent vintages More cedar when re-tasted after decanting at the property A wine that glistens as it glides over the palate exuding an effortless elegance and levity – reinforced by the passage from velour to silk in this vintage if with not quite the seductive appeal of 2019 Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac; 52% Cabernet Sauvignon; 43% Merlot – a little more than usual because of its good quality; 4% Petit Verdot; 1% Cabernet Franc; normal yields were achieved here after 31 treatments against the threat of mildew; 35% less grand vin than last year; 11% vin de presse; 13.1% alcohol; 75 separate vats were vinified; Thomas Duclos is the consultant here; tasted at the property with Mathieu Bessonnet and the family) The aromatics here jump from the decanter and fill the air around the glass It is very ripe and with a lovely natural sweetness too plush and plump on the attack with that pleasing bright natural sucrosity present immediately in the mouth Rich and full in a way that’s rare in the vintage this pushes the cheeks and yet does not lack for depth and density Pretty spherical in form with darker berry and cherry fruits at the top of palate redder berry fruits and their sapid juiciness gathering at the bottom Soft and lush this is very well sustained and with a gentle taper towards a distant vanishing point I’m impressed by the very refined tannins that are energising where they massage the fruit A vin de garde but one accessible in its youth even if today the tannins remain just a little firm on the finish Réserve de Pichon Comtesse (Pauillac; 72% Cabernet Sauvignon; 24% Merlot; 4% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.7; TPI 65; 12.7% alcohol; tasted at the property with Florian Genty) Cassis and a very gracious stalky florality but slender in comparison with previous vintages The silken sheets from which it is formed are interspersed with fine-grained tannins has been to maintain the style but at the expense of density and concentration But with just a hint of dryness on the finish Château Les Sadons (Pauillac; 82% Cabernet Sauvignon; 16% Merlot; 2% Petit Verdot; 13% alcohol) The first wine of the appellation that I tasted and an authentic earthy Pauillac minerality and a suggestion of spice but very much in the background – clove this is a little austere and it lacks complexity but it’s rather classical and you know where it comes from Les Tourelles de Pichon Baron (Pauillac; 65% Merlot; 22% Cabernet Sauvignon; 13% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.59; a final yield of 20 hl/ha; 30% new oak; 13.1% alcohol; tasted at the property with Pierre Montégut) crunchy plum and berry fruits; the additional Merlot brings a certain density and plumpness to the mid-palate Considering the high proportion of Merlot (as ever) in the blend The 2024 Bordeaux barrel tastings continue with Cabernet- and Merlot-based grands vins from Pichon Baron, Pichon Lalande, Lynch Bages, Haut-Batailley and more Two mini-verticals from Bordeaux's Fonbadet and Château Pauillac suggest a bright future … By Benedict Evans | Tuesday The Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Pauillac Ultimate Cask Finish will be on shelves at selected global travel retail locations from March 2025 with prices varying across markets Pernod Ricard GTR (PRGTR) and Chivas Brothers have unveiled their newest global travel retail exclusive blended Scotch whisky: the Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Ultimate Cask Collection The Chivas Regal 18 Year Pauillac Cask Finish is created by blending malt and grain whiskies carefully chosen from various distilleries across Scotland The whisky is then drawn down and fully finished in the finest Pauillac wine casks from one of the best wine producing regions of France the Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Pauillac Cask Finish expression is bottled at a unique strength of 48% ABV by Chivas Regal Master Blender and comes in the familiar 1L Chivas Regal glass bottle with elegant flourishes of purple and gold Connoisseurs will discover rich raspberry coulis and fresh vanilla aromas on the nose evolving into tasting notes of homemade blackcurrant jam sweet yet complex finish laced with spicy undertones will excite the palates of wine and whisky collectors alike VP Global Marketing at Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail commented: “Chivas Regal excels at innovation and travellers will be invited to engage with the latest expression through intimate guided tastings and exclusive store activations added: “We are proud to present the Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Ultimate Cask Collection READ MORE: Pernod Ricard profits down as it battles China and GTR headwinds READ MORE: PR GTR unveils The Glenlivet’s highest permanent age expression at Changi READ MORE: PR GTR hosts Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute tasting in the Tower of London TRBusiness Magazine is free to access. Read the latest issue now ShareSaveBETAThis is a BETA experience. opt-out hereLifestyleSpiritsBordeaux - Pomerol And Pauillac: More In Common Than One Might ThinkByCathrine Todd Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights Cathrine Todd is a New York City-based writer who focuses on wine it is the amount of wine producers (Pomerol has 135 producers compared to 54 in Pauillac) that creates this disparity in the average size of individually owned properties who has lived in the Bordeaux region since 2003 remarked that Pomerol is like a little village and many of the “winemakers will send their children to the local school and they themselves have gone to the local school,” as opposed to the Pauillac area not having much around for locals and “so most of the Pauillac owners are sending their children to schools in Bordeaux or Paris or in London.” The feeling one gets by visiting each  place lends itself to these two-dimensional perceptions of each place Pomerol is “one of the warmest parts of the whole of Bordeaux which means it is one of the earliest ripening,” according to Jane This climatic difference creates divergent qualities in the tannins of the wines with Pomerol typically having lush tannins and Pauillac having more structured tannins the wines of the Left Bank (Pauillac) will blend their wines before the Christmas following harvest while Pomerol will blend after aging “At En Primeur you are almost always getting the true final blend on the Left Bank and you are getting an approximate final blend on the Right Bank,” Jane explained which is a good point to remember when reading tasting notes and scores from En Primeur award-winning writer and Bordeaux wine expert It was not surprising to hear all the contrasting factors of these two legendary places in the wine world but things started to become extremely intriguing when the discussion turned to the similarities of these appellations As Jane has been working on her fifth book an encyclopedic guide to Bordeaux expected to be released in the spring of 2020 she started to see that Pomerol and Pauillac have a lot more in common than many Bordeaux wine drinkers may realize “less than 20 owners own 90%.” Jane compared this situation to Pomerol “if they [Moueix] don’t own it they distribute it.” The Moueix family especially the brothers Christian and Jean-François are mainly responsible for raising an unclassified Bordeaux appellation such as Pomerol to an illustrious level has become one of the world’s most sought after wines and Christian Moueix not only owns many other highly prized Pomerol estates but distributes a large percentage of others The idea that the Moueix family is greatly instrumental to the success of Pomerol resembles the influence of Château Lafite Rothschild Château Latour and Château Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac But these giants of the Bordeaux wine world are essential to the smaller producers’ ability to raise the bar in terms of quality There is simply the idea that the value of each appellation was enhanced by these top producers which allowed all estates to raise their prices which gave them resources to make improvements in the vineyards and their wineries - eventually making everyone’s wine that much better; and then there is the direct investment that improved the terroir Since Christian Moueix had a vested interest in all of the châteaux in Pomerol being able to produce top quality wines he installed drainage channels throughout the appellation at Moueix’s expense and with the approval of each winemaker to help improve the soils There are certainly symbiotic qualities to the big and small producers coexisting as well as the contrasting concern of eventually having lack of diversity as smaller wineries get consolidated into larger enterprises The old way of thinking dictates when it comes to a strong sense of terroir Pauillac is located in the Médoc where different “terraces laid down over the millennia [period of a 1000 years]” according to Jane And there are no other wines that display their contrast of terroir expression better than Lafite in northern Pauillac and Latour in southern Pauillac deep gravel that goes about 10 meters [33 feet] deep.” Jane continued to explain “in the southern part of Pauillac heading towards Saint-Julien there is more clay and underneath the gravel at Latour there is the small sticky clay that you get in Pomerol.” There are many more finite differences that Jane said she has been finding during her comprehensive study of the soils of Bordeaux especially within Pauillac itself and that many producers are highlighting these nuances in the vineyards by having a first label and second label wine The easy road to understanding the world is by comparing the differences between places but many times this can create a narrow lens through which one observes the world It takes more time and energy to see the parallels of two journeys that started off completely opposite yet both journeys eventually end up having more important things in common than those things that separate them Pauillac and Pomerol are great examples that one doesn’t have to be better than the other or that Bordeaux lovers have to be either a Pauillac drinker or Pomerol drinker Their distinctive natures can be celebrated while the idea that these wines speak to a sense of place can be deeply respected by all Pauillac comparison tasting that was guided by Jane Anson not only illustrated the differences and similarities of both places but showed varying expressions of terroir within each appellation 2009 Château La Pointe: Blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc with 50% new oak showed nice sexy fruit with a fleshy body yet it was not that concentrated and seemed to be at a good spot for now Jane said this château has been doing a huge amount of work in the last 15 years with new owners and so there has been significant improvement 2009 Château Rouget: Blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc with 33% new oak Fresh blueberries with hints of dried leaves and a nice textural complexity on the finish Jane noted this was the first Burgundian to buy property in Bordeaux and he is bringing that same Burgundy attitude of isolating terroir 2009 Château Clinet: Blend of 85% Merlot 12% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon with 100% new oak 2009 Château Gazin: Blend of 90% Merlot 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc with 50% new oak 2009 Château La Conseillante: Blend of 81% Merlot and 19% Cabernet Franc with 100% new oak red currant fruit that was juicy and fresh and had an overall elegant quality 2009 Château Grand-Puy Ducasse: Blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot with 40% new oak An underrated wine that shows the greatness of the vintage by over-performing with sweet blackberry fruit on the palate and fine tannins on the expressive finish 2009 Château Batailley: Blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot with 60% new oak A very pretty nose with raspberry fruit and pressed flowers that had integrated tannins that again 2009 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste: Blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon 18% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc with 70% new oak complex finish brought this wine to another level 2009 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande: Blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon 20% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot with 50% new oak This property is in southern Pauillac near Latour and it was rich with cassis flavors and great structure that presents itself with grace in its fine-grained quality 2009 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron: Blend 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot with 80% new oak and the wine was more plush and had more muscle with broad tannins than the Comtesse the harmony and charm of this powerful Pauillac was impressive at only 10 years old Bottles of red wine from one Grand Cru Classé producer keep cropping up in photos posted on Instagram by the former newspaper editor and television personality Former editor of The Mirror and Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan took to social media to document a dinner with friends last week with a bottle of Bordeaux wine taking centre stage who met pals at The Swan pub and restaurant in West Malling shared that he had bought his first home with his dinner companions who are his “oldest and best village mates” One photo showed a decanted bottle of Château Batailley 2017 a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon with 17% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot described by Berry Bros & Rudd as giving “an array of coffee bean which Morgan enjoyed alongside steak and chips The 2016 vintage by the same producer features on The Swan’s wine list priced at £120 Château Batailley is one of the oldest properties in the Bordeaux appellation of Pauillac and is named after the battle that took place in 1453 between the French and the English on the land which would become the prestigious wine estate Acquired in 1924 by brothers Marcel and Francis Borie-Castéja the pair decided to divide the property in two in 1941 Hugues Mathieu joined Château Batailley as head winemaker and cellar master in March 2023 and Mathieu also looks after the winemaking at fellow Grand Cru Classé Puillac property Château Lynch-Moussas Eagle-eyed followers will have noticed that Morgan also poured bottles of Batailley at his mother’s 80th birthday celebrations in June Morgan frequently shares his wine choices with his followers and it seems he has a penchant for French reds with bottles from Pauillac frequently cropping up The total Pauillac vineyard represents only 7.5% of plantings in the Médoc’s 1,200 hectares and Château Batailley owns just 60ha of these On 14 August Morgan posted a 2019 Pauillac on Instagram (see below) with the caption: “This would be my preferred last meal on earth: a good bottle of French red wine and a pointless side salad that I obviously wouldn’t eat because who cares about calories at this point…” He has also shared photos taken at a “fine wine lunch” where he tasted the 1953 Grand Vin from Château Latour one of only three Premiers Grands Crus Classés in Pauillac (alongside Châteaux Lafite-Rothschild and Mouton-Rothschild) At the same dinner Morgan also tried the 1959 Grand Vin from Petrus In August Morgan posted a picture of a bottle of single-varietal Tuscan Merlot Poggio Alle Vipere 2019 which he sipped at the Crotto Dei Platani restaurant in Lake Como And earlier in July he noted that upon visiting Avra in Beverley Hills for dinner he couldn’t recall which wine he had ordered last time he visited the restaurant upon which the waiter produced the receipt from Morgan’s previous visit “I was trying to remember what wine I’d had last time – a delicious Pouilly-Fuissé – and the waiter suddenly appeared with my last bill (from January) and showed me The outspoken broadcaster also enjoyed bottles of both Sassicaia 2008 and a 2011 Amarone by Dal Forno Romano during a recent meal at Little Italy in St Andrews and washed a dish of clams down with a bottle of Is Argiolas while dining at Il Portico in Kensington High Street In June he celebrated Father’s Day with a magnum of Veuve Clicquot saying that his Dad had only given him two pieces of advice over the years: “always be polite to police officers and always drink the best French wine (or Champagne) you can afford…both have stood me in very good stead.” Morgan’s chosen wines are often accompanied by Montecristo cigars We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings we will not be able to save your preferences This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again with pure cassis and violet notes leading off followed by waves of sweet tobacco and iron followed by additional waves of black cherry and blackberry fruit as well as sweet tobacco and iron Shows subtle savory and cedar hints that stay in the background as the iron note pierces through the fruit on the finish Best from 2026 through 2040.—James Molesworth The 2020 vintage continued a trend of extreme conditions with ups and downs during the growing season and mixed results from the harvest but the year yielded two Top 10 wines of 2023 Learn which appellations and châteaus succeeded and get senior editor James Molesworth’s recommended wines and reviews Co-owner Jean-Charles Cazes hosted a vertical tasting at the New York Wine Experience to show the evolution of the Pauillac estate Château Lynch Bages co-owner Jean-Charles Cazes gives us a tour of the estate's new cellars and a taste of the young 2020 vintage the first produced in Lynch Bages' new state-of-the-art facility During a visit to Bordeaux to taste the 2022 vintage in barrel senior editor James Molesworth checks out the Pauillac château's new winemaking facility along with the newest wines from the estates in the Cazes family portfolio The director of Bordeaux's Château Lynch Bages and Famille JM Cazes finds rejuvenation in surfing whether he's traveling the world in search of the perfect break or heading out with his board along Bordeaux’s Atlantic coast Jean-Michel Cazes led his family's Château Lynch Bages into the 21st century He was remembered fondly at Wine Spectator's 2023 New York Wine Experience just a few months after his passing in June Andy Howard MW became a Master of Wine in 2011 and runs his own consultancy business He previously worked for Marks & Spencer as a buyer for over 30 years and was responsible as wine buyer for\u00a0Burgundy,\u00a0Bordeaux,\u00a0Loire,\u00a0Champagne Although his key areas of expertise are Burgundy and Italy he also has great respect for the wines of South America and South Africa as well as a keen interest in the wines from South West France He is a Decanter contributing editor and writes a regular column on the UK wine retail trade for\u00a0JancisRobinson.com At the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) he was the Regional Chair for Southern Italy Although designated a Fifth Growth in the 1855 Classification, Château Grand-Puy Ducasse is unlikely to feature high on a list of most desirable purchases for Pauillac fans Perhaps this is down to its location (the château is situated in ‘downtown’ Pauillac) so doesn’t conform to the classical image of names such as Château Latour Château Lafite or Château Mouton-Rothschild graced by elegant buildings and surrounded by glorious vineyards Or perhaps it is simply down to the fact that the wine has a reputation for failing to deliver the same intensity and excitement as many other Pauillac classed growths Continuing north up the Gironde db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay reaches Pauillac in his appellation-by-appellation guide to Bordeaux 2023 Here he finds the quality impressively homogenous listing his stand out wines of the appellation Continuing north up the Gironde and leaving St Julien behind us it does not take long for us to get to Pauillac Given their geographical proximity and the fact that they share the same weather station we might expect them to have fared similarly in the 2023 vintage Yet the data can be a little misleading in this part of the Médoc southern Pauillac (the part of the appellation south of the town itself) arguably shares more with St-Julien that it does with the northern sector of the appellation which shares more with St-Estèphe than it does the southern sector whilst the data from the Pauillac weather station arguably captures quite well the experience of the southern part of the appellation we are probably better advised to look to the St-Estèphe weather station if we want to gauge the conditions prevailing in the north it does not make a great deal of difference Table 1: Rainfall during the vintage (relative to 10-year average) Source: calculated from Saturnalia’s Bordeaux 2023 Harvest report Pauillac had a somewhat unexceptional year Total rainfall was marginally above the 10-year average (as across the appellation border in St-Estèphe) over the growing season itself only two months saw above average rainfall – June and September But this is where the story – or at least the implications of the story – start to diverge a rather smaller proportion of its leading vineyards are planted with the more susceptible Merlot varietal the catalytic combination of alternating downpours and spikes in temperature that saw mildew spread like wildfire elsewhere was rather less present the northern sector suffered less intense mildew pressure and both sectors were always going to be rather less susceptible to it than equivalent vineyards further south or the rain that came in the middle of month set up almost perfect conditions for the late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon that dominates the blends of the appellation to attain perfect maturity – above all for those with the means and the patience to pick it micro-parcel by micro-parcel What was problematic elsewhere turned out to be something of an advantage in Pauillac Table 2: Average vineyard yield by appellation (hl/ha) This shows average annual yields for the leading left- and right-banks appellations Whilst Pauillac might not have attained the absolute average vineyards yield of either St-Estèphe or St-Julien it has not seen yields of over 47 hl/ha for almost 2 decades is the relative lack of variation in average vineyard yields between properties (as my detailed tasting notes below testify) the highest absolute vineyard yields in the appellation were achieved at a property practicing agroforestry and both organic and biodynamic viticulture is the convergence in the blend composition of the leading wines of the appellation We might well still think of the Médoc classed growths as Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blends these are now perhaps better seen as Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated blends with a variable sprinkling of other varietals (including Table 3: Percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the grands vins of leading Pauillac estates The wines themselves are excellent and the quality above all in the context of a challenging vintage produced a potential candidate for the left-bank wine of the vintage (alongside Margaux and a couple of others that we will come to as we continue our Médoc en primeur journey further north) dynamic and captivating in its purity and precision and it seems to provide for me now the reference point against which the other wines of the appellation have to be judged Lafite Rothschild and Pichon Comtesse de Lalande both run it very close for the wine of the appellation even if neither for me quite attains the level of the 2020 or 2022 a more traditional wine and it will be fascinating to see how each evolves over the decades to come Pontet Canet and Haut-Bages Libéral have each made thrilling wines very true to both their terroirs and their distinctive styles Each provides a more articulate and eloquent expression of its personality arguably than ever before; each feels more comfortable in its identify; and each deserves a place in any fine collection of the best wines of the last decade in Pauillac Once again Le Petit Mouton is for me the second wine of the Médoc But it is Grand-Puy Ducasse which perhaps deserves the most special mention It may well still be something of a work in progress but for the first time in a long time it has made a wine that is a true sublimation of the quality of its terroir The collective effort that has gone into this is monumental A guide to Bordeaux 2023 in ten questions Bordeaux 2023 vintage report part I: quality and quantity together, for once Bordeaux vintage report part 2: a vintage of reactivity, vigilance and surveillance with a vibrant iron spine buried in its dark fruit This has a very large-scaled yet properly proportioned core of cassis plum and blackberry fruit flavors that are remarkably pure and focused vibrant iron spine that drives the finish as the fruit keeps pace tobacco and cedar nuances fill out all the remaining available space Best from 2030 through 2045.—James Molesworth Lamb and red Bordeaux make a classic pairing saddle of lamb is coated with a lavendar honey–Dijon mustard mixture rolled in a mix of fresh herbs and dressed with a citrus-olive jus Serve it with slow-cooked potatoes boulangère and a top-notch Bordeaux such as wine No When senior editor James Molesworth was in Bordeaux for barrel tastings of the 2022 vintage at Pichon Baron and a sister property Château Pibran in Pauillac the value end of the lineup indicates this is a Bordeaux vintage to watch when it's released db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay gives his verdict on the 2023 vintage wines from Pauillac, following the publication of his appellation report to align them more closely to your own palate To give an example: if the idea of the ‘new classicism’ leaves you cold you may well wish to discount the (typically high) ratings I have given to wines described in such terms my ratings span a considerable range (from the very top of the scale downwards) I have decided not to publish scores for classed growths (or equivalent wines) that I have rated below 90 (here the range 89-91) and for crus bourgeois (or equivalent wines) that I have rated below 89 (here the range 88-90) the wine would have scored below these thresholds Where my written assessment of the wine might also have proved unflattering to the property I have simply chosen to publish neither the commentary nor the rating élevage is likely to be very important in determining the quality in bottle of these wines D’Armailhac (Pauillac; 70% Cabernet Sauvignon; 15% Merlot; 13% Cabernet Franc; 2% Petit Verdot; pH 3.75; 13.7% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin and then at Clerc-Milon with Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy) Smokier and more ferrous and saline in its minerality than Clerc-Milon it is also more red-fruited and a little less sumptuous in texture with the tension almost of a white wine if you shut you eyes and project but the acidity is much more noticeable and it’s not quite at the level of the rest of the Mouton flight texturally ethereal though the tannins are The fruit feels just a little stretched over the frame Batailley (Pauillac; 79% Cabernet Sauvignon; 19% Merlot; 2% Petit Verdot; a final yield of around 49 hl/ha and late picked; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin and then at Batailley) it’s floral for Pauillac (and that makes it a little more difficult to pick) but it has a specific salinity to its minerality and a slight smoky note that feels reassuringly familiar a little less oak than there used to be and with considerable intensity to the red and darker berry fruits that define the core of this wine on the palate (here the fruit profile is a little lighter in hue) A lovely clean cassis signature and good sapidity Carruades de Lafite (Pauillac; 60% Cabernet Sauvignon; 40% Merlot; pH 3.70; a final yield of 45 hl/ha; 13.2% alcohol; tasted at Duhart-Milon) Very dark berry fruited with a little damson though with ultra-refined and super fine-grained tannins There’s a touch of crushed rock and rock salt minerality that lifts this on the chewy finish lean and fresh on the finale which is nicely focussed and well-sustained Clerc-Milon (Pauillac; 72% Cabernet Sauvignon; 19% Merlot; 6.5% Cabernet Franc; 1.5% Carménère; 1% Petit Verdot; pH 3.83; 13.5% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin and at the property with Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy) blackberries all freshly picked and de-husked or de-stoned There’s a lovely cassis and cedar element to this that actually makes me think of Le Petit Mouton There’s also mirror pool clarity in the mid-palate This used to be difficult to taste en primeur Croizet-Bages (Pauillac; 70% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30% Merlot; a final yield of 45 hl/ha; 13.5% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin) Here I find it ambitious and quite punchy for the vintage But the tannins are a little less refined than those of the neighbours and this is rather chunky It finishes just a little harsher than many and the extraction feels a little pushed Duhart-Milon (Pauillac; 80% Cabernet Sauvignon; 20% Merlot; a final yield of 45hl/ha yield; around 65% of the production made the selection for the grand vin; 15% press wine; 13.1% alcohol) Rather closed aromatically when tasted under light grey skies with rain in the air at the property plump and quite spherical mouthful of sapid with a hint of wild herbs and heather – wild translucent and quite pixilated by the tannins whose glossiness and finesse brings polish this feels just a little herbaceous on the finish The frame is almost too ample to sustain the fruit intensity Echo de Lynch Bages (Pauillac; 55% Merlot; 43% Cabernet Sauvignon; 2% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.62; IPT 78; 13.6% alcohol; tasted at Lynch Bages) with the sense of density reinforced by the relatively narrow frame Forts de Latour (Pauillac; 55.8% Cabernet Sauvignon; 40.2% Merlot; 4% Petit Verdot; 13.7% alcohol; IPT 75; nearly 40 per cent of the total production; tasted at Latour) More creamy in texture than Le Pauillac de Latour A pleasing density that seems to reveal itself slowly as this evolves over the palate Quite a punchy acidity and a relatively substantial volume of tannin that is still to be resolved bringing a gentle massaging of the fruit on the finish Grand-Puy Ducasse (Pauillac; 52% Cabernet Sauvignon; 44% Merlot; 4% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 50 hl/ha; 13.5% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin) We’re already off to a good start when the second wine is rather better than most recent vintages of the grand vin And the good news continues with the grand vin itself in 2023 opulent and yet elegant and classically refined on the nose the damson and mulberry perhaps just stealing the show Succulent through the mid-palate but chewy and substantial on the finish which is lifted The best I’ve ever tasted from here and a new benchmark I am sure for the property Grand-Puy Lacoste (Pauillac; 77% Cabernet Sauvignon; 23% Merlot; a final yield of 48 hl/ha; 13.2% alcohol; tasted at the property with Emeline Borie) herbal and heathery streak that I somehow associate with Grand-Puy Lacoste more so that the 2022 and perhaps more dynamic too A tight and densely charged mid-palate but a relatively narrow frame accentuating the impression of concentration and The Merlot give a wonderful round plush frame for the somewhat more strict and linear Cabernet Long with a gentle taper towards a distant horizon A very articulate expression of the vintage and appellation Les Griffons de Pichon Baron (Pauillac; 57% Cabernet Sauvignon; 41% Merlot; 2% Petit Verdot; pH 3.8; 7% press wine; a final yield of 37 hl/ha; 13.2% alcohol; tasted at Pichon Baron with Christian Seely) Brighter and more vertical both aromatically and in the mouth than Les Tourelles This has a more traditional and quite chiselled structure much more so than Les Tourelles (which is horizonal where this is more vertical) Pauillac depth and with more of a sense of gravitas and profundity The tannins are nicely interwoven with the acidity producing an integral sense of freshness that is sapid Haut-Bages Libéral (Pauillac; 86% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14% Merlot; an impressive final yield 53 hl/ha; pH 3.48; 13.5 alcohol; practicing agroforestry and certified both organic and biodynamic; tasted with Claire Lurton) At Haut-Bages Libéral it’s as if the terroir speaks vertical and with a very dynamic sense of lift There’s great aromatic purity and pixilation here too (even if one typically thinks of pixilation in visual terms) And it is so very different to Durfort Vivens (tasted immediately before) in terms of its essential characteristics and fruit profile just a little hint of bramble and wild strawberry too (a note I tend to associate with Haut-Bages Libéral) rich and fully charged – quite a mouthful in fact nice grip and with great freshness on the long finish Haut Batailley (Pauillac; 71% Cabernet Sauvignon; 25% Merlot; 4% Petit Verdot; 13.2% alcohol; aging in oak barrels 65% of them new; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin and with roughly 60 per cent of the production selected for the grand vin) Lovely and quite distinctive now in its personality more delicate but also more refined than many of its ostensible Pauillac peers A very pure and pleasingly cedar-inflected dark berry fruit A saline note too – almost a hint of salted peanuts (though better than that makes it sound) which really comes through in the mid-palate and on the finish (but which is more suppressed aromatically for the moment) Quiet progress each years brings us something of excellence and ethereal beauty in 2023 Lacoste Borie (Pauillac; 56% Cabernet Sauvignon; 33% Merlot; 11% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 48 hl/ha; 13.2% alcohol; tasted with Emeline Borie at Grand-Puy Lacoste) this provides a pleasingly representative and authentic introduction to the grand vin hyper-fresh but with enough substance that this always stays sapid and juicy and never either becomes or threatens to become astringent Lafite Rothschild (Pauillac; 93% Cabernet Sauvignon; 6% Merlot; 1% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 45 hl/ha; pH 3.76; aging in oak barrels This is so beautifully redolent of Lafite and could be no other wine Carruades might have been starved in a way to make this Gorgeous refined blackcurrant and black cherry HB pencil-shavings fresh from the sepia-tinged classroom of the 1960s and a hint of dark chocolate-coated violet with a very soft-focused but dense and compact spherical core – a black hole of black fruit Gracious and almost hinting at opulence but for the freshness of the vintage which brings instead a striking energy and vivacity But this is relaxed and measured where Mouton is more vivid and dynamic cashmere replacing the fine silk layering of its near neighbour I love the Cabernet fruit that pulses through all of its veins Latour (Pauillac; 92.3% Cabernet Sauvignon; 7.7% Merlot; 13.2% alcohol; IPT 73; nearly 40 per cent of the total production; tasted at the property) A particularly big step up from Les Forts in this vintage with a cassis leafiness and a lovely bouquet of freshly picked spring blooms The fruit profile is delicate and it is almost as if this part of the aromatic profile remains intimate and shy a little redcurrant reinforcing the sense of freshness Lithe and aerial aromatically giving the impression of a less substantial wine than it turns out to be on the palate Quite pixilated with a subtle granularity to the tannins – not the glacial mirror pool texture at all of Mouton Almost a little foursquare for the vintage and maybe more traditional in a way than either Mouton or Lafite Lynch-Bages (Pauillac; 71% Cabernet Sauvignon; 24% Merlot; 3% Cabernet Franc; 2% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 47 hl/ha; pH 3.75; IPT 95; 13.7% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin and again at the property) A most fitting if silent tribute to the indomitable Jean-Michel Cazes it is more closed still and it is walnut and walnut shell that reveal themselves first refined and glossy with beautifully-refined tannins and a shimmering quality to the mouthfeel (all the more impressive when you consider the IPT level – 20 points above that of Latour yet you would never guess) Not as ample as it used to be and so much more impressive for that Glacially pure and crystalline in the mid-palate intensely juicy and with a lovely touch of menthol and fleur de sel on the finish Lynch-Moussas (Pauillac; 78% Cabernet Sauvignon; 22% Merlot; a final yield of 49 hl/ha with half of the production making the selection for the grand vin; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin and at Batailley) A little less engaging when tasted after Lynch-Bages Lithe and quite plush if not exactly plump The tannins are a little less refined on the finish but the progress here needs to be underscored A much stronger wine than it used to be and an impressive showing from a wine that used to be rustic and even a little coarse Moulin de Duhart (Pauillac; 55% Merlot; 45% Cabernet Sauvignon) though there’s a little dip in the mid-palate –  even if it starts to fill in with a little aeration Mouton Rothschild (Pauillac; 93% Cabernet Sauvignon; 7% Merlot; 13.3% alcohol; pH 3.79; the old-vine yields here were above the 10 year average for Mouton; tasted with Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy at Clerc-Milon) Candlewax and candle smoke from the cathedral hinting perhaps at the gothic cathedral architecture of the palate to come Broader than Le Petit Mouton but with something of the same kaleidoscope of velvety layers imparting a great sensation of depth the hint of blackcurrant that appears like a phantom from the lake just before the finish A wine with a staggeringly dynamic freshness almost a whirlpool of upwelling Cabernet cassis disrupting the cool tranquillity of the surface that we encounter first And yet thrilling and utterly captivating at the same time Pauillac de Latour (Pauillac; 62.5% Cabernet Sauvignon; 34.1% Merlot; 4.7% Petit Verdot; ; IPT 74; 13.5% alcohol; tasted at Latour) with a little rose petal alongside the bright and quite dark shaded berry fruits A little leafy and lifted with a nice note of cassis and a touch of cedar joining the frame towards the finish The tannins are perhaps just a little prickly on the finish but that will be resolved before this is released Le Petit Mouton (Pauillac; 79% Cabernet Sauvignon; 12% Merlot; 7% Cabernet Franc; 2% Petit Verdot; pH 3.74; 13.3% alcohol; tasted at Clerc-Milon with Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy) the berries joined by black cherries and assorted dark plums but then the tannins pinch and bring this back to the spine Cascading layers of silky and velvety fruit make this very deep and reinforce the impression of concentration but not at the expense of the sheer mobility and fluidity of the wine with eddies of freshness disturbing the mirror pool I find this to star turn of the Pauillac 1st growth second wines Pibran (Pauillac; 54% Cabernet Sauvignon; 46% Merlot; pH 3.7; 13.1% alcohol; tasted at Pichon Baron with Christian Seely) A little closed under overcast skies at Pichon Baron Peppery – pestle-pounded white and black peppercorns The quality of the tannins again really impresses me Quite broad-framed though never quite pushing at the cheeks layered texturally and impressively pure and precise Not the length of the great wines of the appellation Pichon Baron (Pauillac; 80% Cabernet Sauvignon; 20% Merlot; pH 3.7; 13.2% alcohol; a final yield of 37 hl/ha; 12 % press wine; tasted at Pichon Baron with Christian Seely and Pierre Montegut) with a glorious Cabernet fruit completely at the centre of the stage with a sense of inter-layer pixilation and a crystalline character and finesse that I’ve never felt here before but that is very consistent with the direction of travel of this wine over recent vintages The closest in signature to the 2019 for me Pichon Comtesse de Lalande (Pauillac; 80% Cabernet Sauvignon; 17% Merlot; 3% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 40 hl//ha; tasted at the UGC press tasting at the Cité du Vin and then with Florent Genty and the property; very strict plot selection with just 40% of the production making the grade for the grand vin; they are practicing biodynamic viticulture over 80 of the 98 hectares) and once again pushing at the first growths in qualitative terms (though not in price) In a way this is the wine that everyone aspires to emulate iris and wisteria – all beautifully integrated and interwoven There’s an extraordinary mirror pool clarity to the mid-palate if perhaps not quite the plunge-pool depth of the 2020 or 2022 This is if anything even more impressive at the property when I nudge up my rating just a notch Pontet Canet (Pauillac; 52% Cabernet Sauvignon; 39% Merlot; 6% Cabernet Franc; 3% Petit Verdot; aging in oak barrels 50% of which are new; 35% in concrete amphoras; the rest in oak barrels of 1 previous use; a final yield of c 40 hl/ha; 13.8% alcohol; the longest ever harvest here with 250 pickers harvesting over 34 days; tasted at the property with Alfred Tesseron) with air this becomes intensely saline with liquorice notes very prominent The greater use of spherical cuves has helped to keep the extraction as soft as possible Quite a lot of still unresolved tannin on the finish and 20 years of biodynamic wine-making gives this a natural energy Réserve de la Comtesse (Pauillac; the 50th anniversary release with a special commemorative one-off label; 60% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot; 5% Cabernet Franc; tasted at the property with Florent Genty; 60 per cent of the total production) Dense and compact and yet with the most gracious of tannins once again More cassis than the cherry of the grand vin Plump and very classically of the appellation with dark and lighter berry fruits – cassis and blackberry I love how the fruit profile seems to turn This is wonderful on the finish – all chewy grape skins and cherry skins The florality is all that is left in the empty glass Domaine Les Sadons (Pauillac; a tiny property of three parcels next to the Pichons and Latour and just 0.87 hectares in total; over 70% Cabernet Sauvignon a little Petit Verdot and the rest Merlot 13.2% alcohol) A wine I very much enjoyed in 2022 and this is very close to attaining the same heights rich yet well-structured and tight central core of dark berry fruit – predominantly black cherry and with a little suggestion of leafy cassis The tannin management is excellent and this is sapid and juicy on the finish Les Tourelles de Pichon Baron (Pauillac; 20% Cabernet Sauvignon; 72% Merlot; 8% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.7; 13.5% alcohol; tasted at Pichon Baron with Christian Seely) Darker berry fruits when compared to Pibran rather less spice and salt than in previous vintages with an impressive sense of textural evolution and then lift borrowed or at least copied from the grand vin This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page It's not all multi-million euro mansion houses and vineyard estates in this vaunted appellation on Bordeaux's Left Bank Jane Anson meets the winemakers who still represent another side of Pauillac ‘It’s not like we get a knock on the door every single week asking us to sell,’ Alain Albistur is telling me ‘at the same time we know that we benefit from the power of the Pauillac name And it’s nice to know that if we want to retire That’s not quite so easy for friends with wine estates up in the northern reaches of the Médoc’ We are stood in the small back room of Domaine les Sadons It’s a short two minute stroll here from the D2 Route de Châteaux just set back from Château Fonbadet in Saint Lambert Out of the window we can see the vines of Pichon Baron stretching away Albistur himself has only 87 ares (just over two acres) of vines in the appellation and is well aware that he is unlikely to ever have any more of what is perhaps the most expensive agricultural land in France Just this small amount is worth something close to €1.5 million maybe even €2 million considering their location even though he only produces 500 cases a year He has spent most of his career working as cellar hand at Grand Puy Lacoste – a role that continues to be his day job – and works his vineyard on the side the first generation of his family to make the leap Until 1997 the patch of land that is now vines was a vegetable garden but he was able to plant by using planting rights from his brother-in-law only able to take over himself in 2006 – at first using old barrels from Pichon Baron In the room with us are four other producers There are other independent producers in the appellation – Fonbadet Château Gaudin and Château Dompierre to name a few – but they are larger The producers that Albistur has gathered for this tasting all own just above or just below one hectare of vines – a precarious position in an appellation where there is always someone with deep pockets willing to relieve you of them Yannick Mirande of Château Chantecler has experience of exactly that His family sold 12 hectares of vines in the village of Pouyalet to Mouton Rothschild on ‘May 15 This was Château La Fleur Milon (you can still see the name on a cellar building although the vines have become part of Mouton and Clerc Milon today) Mirande was able to keep just under 3 acres bottling them under the name of the former second wine Others here have benefitted indirectly from the rapacious attitude of the big guys picked up 1.2 acres of vines in Pauillac back in 2010 from a ‘stubborn independent producer who refused to sell to the big names’ Split over two plots near Châteaux Clerc Milon and Pibarnon this one goes for a full polished Pauillac expression aged in new oak barrels from 12 different coopers vinified in their cellars in St-Estèphe (where the wine is sold for half the price €22 for Petit Bocq instead of €44 for the Pauillac) Gerard Bougès at Château Le Fon de Berger and Sophie Martin at Château Julia both work vines that have been in the family for generations but were until recently sold to the cooperative cellars La Rose de Pauillac Bougès’ 2.69 acres of vines (‘the numbers after the decimal point are key at this size’ he says with a smile) were planted by his great-grandfather From 1999 his father began bottling a part of the production himself but it was only with the 2015 vintage that the 29-year-old Bougès himself took over and began 100% château bottling Martin has only a small part of the family vines with the rest still being sent to La Rose de Pauillac ‘I have 62 ares (1.5 acres) on the Route de Château mainly small plots opposite Cordeillan Bages the smallest of which is just 22m2,’ says Martin ‘They had been going into La Rose de Pauillac since its creation in the 1930s but the lack of control over them became frustrating so when the five-year contract came up in 2009 I took them back and now vinify in buildings that used to be our family farm’ Although these are vines that have been in the family for generations she was effectively a first time winemaker borrowing equipment from friends (including Albistur just as he had done a few years earlier) and still works with a succession of consultants ‘until I really find a winemaking style that suits me’ Bougès says that the differences between the big and small players in the appellation manifests in many different ways ‘Whatever your size you have the same amount of paperwork to do although the large Pauillac estates have more hands on deck ‘And it’s not even worth trying to hand it over to our children because of taxes,’ says Mirande It’s tough to know that I will be the last of the family to have this life ‘It’s true that in Pauillac almost all of us would make more money by selling our land than making wine,’ agrees Albistur ‘You have to love it to work as a tiny producer here and am trying to find ways to perhaps sell some of the vines and keep the rest I like the idea that if you give them vines you also give them work – because if they don’t work it themselves they’ll never make anything’ as you would expect from estates that are true reflections of personal efforts And if they don’t always have the polish of classified Pauillac then the prices of these wines (Lagneaux aside) are also distinctly old school with consumer prices of €26 for Chantecler The names also are usually a reflection of something personal to them rather than something inherited over the centuries is a unity of measure that equals 850 vines ‘Not far off what I actually have’ says Albistur ‘I didn’t want to call my estate a château,’ Albistur says from the (now unusual) method of 200% new oak which means vinifiyting in new oak then transferring into new oak barrels for ageing Certainly an approach aimed at creating maximum impact definitely one that will continue to develop over further ageing cassis held in place by still-tight tannins Hauts-Iris IGP Vin de Pays Atlantique 2015 I mention this one just as an interesting aside The winemaker is based in Pauillac but his vines are just outside the appellation Certainly a good value option – grown with no chemical weed killers a distinctly Medoc blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon Although maybe not the best vintage for Pauillac there are some great wines – some this vintage’s best – to be found here our Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay notes that this is possibly more of a reflection of the quality of its terroirs and sheer size rather than a particular deftness in handling the challenges of the past growing season I have decided to provide an indicative rating for each wine alongside the published comment All such comments and ratings are necessarily subjective (they cannot be anything else reflect my subjective relative preferences between wines my ratings span a considerable range (from the very high to the very low) I have decided not to publish scores for wines that I have rated below 90 (here the range 89-91) élevage is likely to be very important in determining the quality in bottle of these wines (rather more so than in recent vintages) I am no soothsayer and cannot predict how that will turn out All en primeur ratings should be treated with caution and taken with a certain pinch of salt That is never more true than it is in this vintage The 2022 vintage in Pauillac has fared very well indeed As Hay points out in his appellation overview, Pauillac – along with St Julien – has proved one of the most homogeneous appellations of the vintage – not something he expected to be writing when he left Paris to start the marathon of en primeur tastings a month ago it is a small harvest of high quality fruit with excellent wines and quality that is relatively homogeneous a far from entirely homogeneous vintage – and élevage is likely to be very important in determining the quality in bottle of these wines (like 2021 and rather more so than in other recent vintages) Bordeaux 2022: Miraculous majesty (thedrinksbusiness.com) Bordeaux 2022 vintage report: The questions still to be answered (thedrinksbusiness.com) Bordeaux 2022 vintage report: Mysterious majesty forged from the enigma of climatic excess (thedrinksbusiness.com) A tale of two halves here in 2021 with some spectacular wines produced but also winemakers having to contend with a barrage of problems Merlot in general suffered from frost and mildew and rains in mid- and late-September meant some estates harvested quickly and before full phenolic ripeness Those who managed the stresses of the year well and waited until October to harvest went on to produce some stellar Cabernet- dominant blends – many above 90% Cabernet – albeit with low yields BORDEAUX 2021 IN BOTTLE SCORE TABLE: Top-scoring 133 wines with 93 points or above Pauillac in 2021 is something of a mixed bag There are undoubtedly great wines to be found here – some of the greatest of the entire vintage But my gut feeling that this is not a great vintage for Pauillac nonetheless the producers of Margaux and St Julien it seems to me have typically fared better in relation to the quality of their terroirs many of 2021’s star turns come from Pauillac But that Pauillac has so many great wines in the vintage seems to me to be more of a reflection of the quality of its terroirs and its size than any particular deftness in handling the compound climatic challenges of the growing season the data do suggest that Pauillac suffered marginally more than its Médocain neighbours – with a final average vineyard yield just below that of St Julien at 35.1 hl/ha the difference is fractional and the 15.4% loss relative to the ten-year average is actually smaller than that suffered in St Julien For it would be wrong to assume a strong (or even a positive) correlation between final yield in the vineyard and the quality of the grand vin itself What is striking is how many of the leading wines of the appellation (on the very best terroirs) were produced from tiny yields well below the appellation average (even before a typically ultra-strict selection for the grand vin itself) Latour and Pichon Baron harvested just 22 hl/ha and Pichon Comtesse de Lalande (30 hectares of which was farmed biodynamically for the first time) a derisory 15 hl/ha More significant it seems is the proportion of Merlot in the final blend and without noticing it particularly as I tasted the wines that I have rated most highly turn out to be those with the least Merlot are massively reliant on Cabernet Sauvignon (in some cases augmented by Cabernet Franc) Pichon Comtesse de Lalande is 98% Cabernet (Franc and Sauvignon combined); Lafite and Latour are 96% Cabernet Sauvignon whilst Mouton and Haut-Bages Libéral are both 90% Cabernet Lynch Bages is the exception – with 25% Merlot – and ‘just’ 70% Cabernet and certainly a candidate for left-bank wine of the vintage a wine that seems to expresses more fully than any other the cool summer Cabernet classicism of the vintage (though Duhart-Milon is stylistically very close in its more delicate has made a truly fabulous wine – searingly fresh a little different in style to what one might have anticipated made the strongest wine in the context of the vintage that I have ever tasted from here The added precision from the new wine-making facility is much in evidence in a wonderfully detailed and pixilated mid-palate It provides serious competition for the neighbours across the D2 Pichon Baron and Pichon Comtesse de Lalande – though both have excelled despite the challenges of a most trying vintage I find them ever so slightly more convergent in style than in recent vintages and Pichon Baron I would highlight the sheer quality and classicism of Grand-Puy Lacoste and the vivid and vibrant exuberance of Haut-Bages Libéral – a wine that seems to reflect almost perfectly the passion and brilliance of its proprietor For full tasting notes, see here with a fort and garrison to guard the estuary and wine from the site gained recognition from Montaigne as early as the 16th Century The original tower no longer exists; the famous tower featured on the label was designed as a pigeon roost and built around 1620 Latour's development as a single property came with the beginning of a long unbroken period of connected family ownership, based around the de Ségur name, also associated with Mouton and Calon-Ségur This began in 1670 and lasted 290 years although Latour was divided up and not fully reunited until 1841 The Latour estate courted controversy in 2012 when it announced – through long-time director Frédéric Engerer – that it would no longer take part in Bordeaux's En Primeur pre-release sales campaign (an annual installment for nearly all the major names in the region) the estate has shown no signs of going back on this decision Typically for the region, Cabernet Sauvignon dominates in the vineyard, accounting for around 80 percent of plantings. Merlot makes up most of the remainder, and there are also small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot The grand vin is only made from the vineyard plots surrounding the chateau and shown on the 1759 plan of the domaine Vine age in these sections is around 60 years old Latour makes two other wines: Les Forts de Latour (a well-regarded second wine in its own right) and Pauillac de Latour (a third wine) both of which are made from younger vines.  From Chopin and Schubert to Vaughan Williams and Elgar the greatest composers have given the world ‘variations’ musical compositions that explore the evolution of a theme Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste – a fifth-growth estate in Pauillac on Bordeaux’s Left Bank – is doing the same with wine Starting with the 2020 vintage – and only available to purchase En Primeur – the family-run estate has offered its Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Lacoste Borie wines in ‘Variation Cases’ which present the wines’ evolution in a variety of bottle sizes these special presentation cases bring together a double-magnum giving wine lovers an insight into how their favourites develop over time In the same way that a musical variation charts the modification of a theme – through its harmony or melody or rhythm – so too does the Variation Case following the changes in aroma and flavour and structure the Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste has offered its Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Lacoste Borie wines in ‘Variation Cases’ a smaller proportion of the liquid comes into contact with the tiny amount of air in the bottle that allows the wine to evolve wine in magnums develops at a slower tempo than that inside standard bottles slowing down the beat of development even further giving the audience a rare insight into the evolution of this classic expression of Pauillac Connoisseurs can follow how acidity and tannins continue to become even more integrated over time while primary fresh fruit aromas and flavours are joined by the richer notes that only come with age Lacoste Borie wines’ special presentation cases bring together a double-magnum The result is that fans can pick the perfect ‘variation’ for different moments – a bottle for an intimate dinner a side-by-side comparison for a special birthday treat Only the highest-quality wines are worthy of such attention over such periods of time Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste’s quality is built on consistency: overlooking Pauillac from its namesake hill the estate still grows its grapes on the same parcel of land registered during the 1855 classification Owner François-Xavier Borie’s family have cared for those vines since 1978 ensuring the estate continues to compose beautiful wines and make them available to the widest possible audience Cases are only available En Primeur and the 2023 vintage is now available to purchase from stockists To purchase a case or request specific vintages contact the winery via dfxb@domainesfxborie.com former director of Château Mouton Rothschild After pouring the 2009 vintage from a carafe we pondered the proverbial fist in a velvet glove sensing the wine’s inescapable tannic backbone underneath layers of opulence: so Mouton we admired the just-constructed cellar at Château Lynch-Bages Tastefully designed by Chien Chung Pei (son of the late IM Pei who was responsible for the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris) nearly double the number used for the 2019 vintage The 2020 vintage will thus more closely ref lect careful picking of vine parcels identified in a painstaking mapping of the château’s 100ha vineyard says Lynch-Bages co-owner Jean-Charles Cazes Pauillac bustles these days with renovations and reconstructions at other estates Despite the changes, the wines remain based on Cabernet Sauvignon and gravelly terroir. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot also make up blends. ‘But the very structure of Pauillac bears the imprint of Cabernet Sauvignon which is predominant,’ explains Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy who was appointed estates manager of Mouton The appellation was extremely marked by the hot weather and drought conditions creating – in general – small but juicy berries with thick skins and high levels of tannins Although there was large variability in grape size within vineyards let alone across the entire appellation with localised rainfall in April and August causing heterogeneity Pauillac saw an average yield of 37.4hl/ha in 2020 lower than 2018 at 38.5hl/ha and 2019 at 46.7hl/ha SCORE TABLE: top-scoring 349 wines with 92 points or above The following wines all scored 94 points or above Though soils and microclimates play a vital role in Pauillac Ian D'Agata finds it is the human touch that provides the key to this region's sheer magnetism and longevity.. After 25 years spent visiting Bordeaux’s vineyards up to five times a year I wrote in these pages that my favourite Bordeaux wines are St-Julien’s – but The answer is simple enough – while Pauillac may not offer the remarkable overall quality level of St-Julien (quality levels drop precipitously between Pauillac’s greatest wines and its less successful ones) it is undoubtedly where the highest quality peaks in Bordeaux are found Three of the five first growths named in the famous 1855 classification are in Pauillac (north to south as well as a long list of ‘super-seconds’ (Pontet- Canet (pictured below Pichon- Longueveille-Lalande and Lynch-Bages spring immediately to mind) Pauillac’s wines have always ranked among the Médoc’s elite; and not only domaine wines but also those from the area’s two main parishes St-Martin de Pauillac and St Lambert de Rignac This enviable reputation is well deserved – at their best the wines of Pauillac offer a balance of power and grace that is not found in Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blends made anywhere else And though ‘graceful Pauillac’ may seem an oxymoron Pauillac’s greatness lies in powerful wines that are rarely overripe brutes or needlessly extracted it is Pauillac that says ‘Bordeaux’ to the world generalisations about Pauillac’s wines are difficult because its soils and microclimates are extremely varied Roughly 90 minutes’ drive north of Bordeaux Pauillac’s soils and topography share features of each The appellation is characterised by four main soil types that originated millions of years ago during the different glaciations that formed the earth’s crust All these soil types are characterised by a strong gravel component one of the main reasons Cabernet Sauvignon thrives in Pauillac These four soils are found throughout Pauillac though each soil type dominates in specific areas In the southern reaches of the appellation the soil is rich in gravel deposited by the Gironde river during two Mindel glaciation periods (most books and articles usually mention Günzian gravels this is incorrect); these are called Mindel gravel soils type I and II and are characterised by sandy-clay subsoils rich in iron oxide; the latter are also gravelly and brownish-looking Interspersed among these two are the other two main soil types the somewhat confusingly named Mindel gravel I type 2 (large diameter gravels) and the Savoisian marl (calcareous soils with a heavy clay subsoil) The Mindel soils are the oldest (and therefore the first to be formed geologically) they are also the ones found at the highest altitudes This may seem a trivial point (given that in Bordeaux vineyards are less than 50m above sea level) but even a few metres makes a huge difference in Bordeaux’s continental climate Mindel II soil more commonly lines the lowerlying banks of the Gironde river the river eroded the banks and sculpted reliefs and troughs that characterise much of Bordeaux’s topography Pauillac was less affected by the hollowing-out process and remained a plateau with a higher sand content As Pauillac’s estates are located in different areas of the appellation and their vineyards sit on mixes of these different soil types you’d expect the wines to differ from each other; and you’d be correct the nature of the geological terroir of two of the most famous first growths in Pauillac with Mindel II gravel dominating the soils of Latour and Mindel I gravel those of Lafite-Rothschild differences between these two world-famous wines reflect these geological differences properties such as Château Batailley (on the high plateau at the back of Pauillac) or Lynch- Moussas (the most westerly of Pauillac’s great crus) or Grand-Puy-Lacoste (pictured below owned and run by Xavier Borie and his charming family and make wines that are naturally lighter and charming it’s not so simple: the human element always plays a very large role once owner Philippe Casteja took over the reins of sister properties Batailley and Lynch-Moussas new cellar innovations and the ongoing technical help of consultant winemaker and university professor Denis Dubordieu have had a recognisably positive effect on the wines the higher clay content of Pauillac’s northernmost soils (similarly to those of St-Estèphe) should make for bigger is the most graceful of all the first growths And while a soil’s capacity for ion exchange may be reflected in the minerality of its wines the soil’s bacterial diversity) influence the overall texture and aroma/flavour profile of wines proximity to the river is also all-important Vineyards located at the river’s edge bask in a microclimate 3-4°C higher on average than those inland a huge difference in an area where cool weather is not uncommon Winemaking also plays a huge role: for example cold-stabilised wines have a lower potassium concentration than those that aren’t just like wines aged in different kinds of new or used oak Pauillac is both the name of the appellation and its main town I like sitting at one of the simple cafés to read the paper or gaze across to the island of Partiras while munching on bichettes The latter has been especially developed by the Cazes family who have set up an outstanding hotel and restaurant (Château Cordeillan Bages a member of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux chain) a pastry shop and a solid café called Lavinal where I like to drop in bright and early for coffee and croissants A drive through the Pauillac appellation begins with world-famous Château Latour its most southern property; the vineyards are separated from those of Léoville-Las-Cases in St-Julien by a stream but stand out even more in poor years (for example and have a hallmark iron nuance discernible in most vintages Right next to Latour sits Château Pichon-Longueville-Comtesse de Lalande (or Pichon-Longueville-Lalande the architect who later also designed Latour’s main building Once a portion of the much larger Pichon estate owned by Pierre de Mazure de Rauzan it was born in 1850 when the property was divided in two (the other half being Pichon-Longueville Baron) Pichon-Longueville-Lalande is one of Pauillac’s more feminine wines no doubt thanks to an unusually high percentage of Merlot used (35% on average but in fact women have also played an important role managed the estate splendidly for years; in more recent times May-Eliane de Lencquesaing was long associated with this property’s fortunes world-class art glass collection is housed at the estate which today belongs to the Rouzaud family of Louis Roederer fame Pichon-Longueville Baron sits across the D2 road from Pichon-Longueville-Lalande; in my view its fairytale turreted castle is the Médoc’s most beautiful the wine opens with age to reveal an opulent Long-time cellarmaster Jean-René Matignon describes it as ‘having an austere breeding and unique class deriving from the combination of the gravelly brown soils to which Cabernet Sauvignon is especially adapted Haut- Bages-Libéral makes one of the most underrated wines of all Pauillac a classic Pauillac eschewing the voluptuously ripe fruit and soft pH values of so many others Owner Claire Villars-Lurton is a firm believer in the concept of ‘Haut Bages-ness’ ‘About half our vineyards sit close to the river’s edge in Haut-Bages,’ she says ‘The others are found on the other side of the road on the plateau of Bages; but it’s the former that are especially noteworthy located on the geological formation continuing south into St-Julien; Latour Léoville-Las-Cases and Ducru- Beaucaillou all have vineyards on it It is a soil rich not only in gravel but limestone which allows for wines of greater finesse and breeding.’ Villars- Lurton believes this specific portion of Pauillac makes truly distinctive wines but adds ‘Most Pauillac properties grow vines on a mosaic of different soils so differentiating between wines based on a particular sub-zone of Pauillac is not easy’ there are differences in our soils; but there are just too many factors at work for us to be able to say this is a wine from Bages Perhaps that might be possible in areas where vineyard sizes are very small’ general director Philippe Dhalluin believes there is a general ‘Pauillac-ness’ to the wines He rightly points out that many of Mouton’s vineyards are located close to those of Lafite Rothschild and yet the wines couldn’t be more different Another example are the wines of Château d’Armailhac it is characterised as much by its soils and winemaking as it is by its unique blend in which the old Cabernet Franc vines (of a much higher quality than what is usually found on the Left Bank) provide unique floral and noble cocoa aromas and flavours owning vines that grow on a mosaic of soil types located both closer and farther away to the river’s edge is part of the secret to Pauillac’s success the magic that is Pauillac results from a mix of place and human skill Pauillac was overall a successful appellation in the Bordeaux 2018 vintage but the pressure was less intense in Pauillac than in Margaux and came a little later Red wines from Bordeaux have long enjoyed their share of classic pairings: roast lamb, venison, duck breast or beef-based dishes Yet there are plenty of alternative options for the more adventurous Bordeaux lover sommeliers and team members from renowned Bordeaux estates to gather inventive food matches for their classic grands vins Benjamin Camy, sommelier at Château Pape Clément suggests enjoying a recent vintage of the estate’s grand vin with grilled red mullet and Provençal potatoes A youthful wine will not overload the taste buds and the potatoes help support the suppleness of this particular bottling which also pairs beautifully with the meaty texture and juiciness of the fish The red flesh of the grilled mullet makes for an aesthetically pleasing match too Stéphane Moulon, chef de cuisine at Château Pontet-Canet in Pauillac suggests langoustines flambéed with Tesseron Cognac ‘The idea behind this dish is to link the land to the sea,’ he explains ‘The leeks and the beets represent the land The Cognac and the jus binds them together.’ Moulon notes that Cognac brings candied notes to the dish and complements the bright fruit flavours of the wine herbal elements of the leeks emphasise its freshness and minerality ‘The reduced langoustine jus softens the wine’s tannins and creates a subtle [and delicious] complement to the notes of black fruit found in the wine Seafood is also the chosen route for Claude Broussard, chef at Le Saint-Julien Broussard proposes a ‘signature vineyard twist’ on grilled lobster by adding Médoc vine shoots He suggests cutting the lobster in half and grilling it over the shoots with the shell on the fire then put it in the oven for 10 minutes to finish cooking,’ he says noting to serve the dish alongside fresh spring vegetables – as well as an estate red wine with a bit of age Corinne Ilić, director of communications at Château Pichon Baron suggest pairing the estate’s 2011 vintage with a tuna mi-cuit (‘half cooked’) with lardo di Colonnata (Italian white bacon fat) and truffle chervil mousseline (French parsley sauce) and black rice – an original recipe created by chef Thibaut Servas the estate’s 2011 vintage has a beautiful aromatic presence and the tannins are rich and silky with good maturity,’ says Castel adding that this rather light vintage has opened up well and is very accessible with the tuna ‘[The fish] is tasty and fleshy like red meat citing that the woody and spicy aromas of the wine are highlighted by the bacon and truffle ‘The chervil mousseline acts as a binder and brings smoothness and freshness to the dish while the nutty notes found in the black rice echo the toasted notes of the wine.’ Although duck is a rather common pairing for Bordeaux reds, chef Jérôme Banctel of two-star Michelin restaurant Le Gabriel in Paris adds a unique twist by matching the wines of second growth Château Cos d’Estournel in St-Estèphe with duckling fillet ‘The Goulée cuvée has ample notes of spices Serving it alongside the mango and cabbage emphasises its length.’ In 2019, two-star Michelin chef Hélène Darroze was tasked with preparing her signature dish for the annual Accabailles celebration at Château Carbonnieux in Pessac-Léognan Darroze presented roast pigeon with foie gras encased in beef Wellington-inspired puff pastry and served with cep mushrooms and roast potatoes ‘This food and wine pairing is a divine culinary affair!’ exclaims Darroze noting that this youthful wine’s fresh and floral aromatics provide an elegant and well-balanced match for the dish Florent Genty, commercial director at Château Nénin suggests an unexpected pairing for the estate’s 2012 vintage: kung pao chicken Genty notes that the dish originates from China’s Sichuan region and is made with chicken perfectly matches the warm and spicy chicken,’ he says describing the pairing as ‘dramatically comforting’ In St-Estèphe, chef Killian Martin of Château Phélan Ségur proposes a ‘late summer’ pizza with the estate’s 2012 vintage ‘The liquorice and lightly smoky notes of the 2012 complement the flavours and pair well with the crispy dough,’ he says noting that a gourmand wine is necessary to stand up to the hearty ingredients which ultimately provides digestibility and elegance [in the pairing].’ ‘The 2011 is a great wine with a full mouthfeel velvety tannins and a beautiful aromatic complexity,’ she says stating that the generosity of the vintage calls for an equally rich dish marked by an ‘explosion of flavours’ I love tastings that set one thing against the other but to allow the differences to illuminate both sides The usual way to do this is by comparing two contrasting vintages I suggest trying it out with two contrasting appellations Château Lynch-Bages is situated in the Pauillac commune of the Médoc region in Bordeaux. The grand vin, which is made predominantly from Cabernet Sauvignon It ranks among the best in the appellation The property in the village of Bages takes the other part of its name from Thomas Lynch, a Bordeaux merchant of Irish lineage who owned the property from 1749 to 1824. It was rated a fifth growth in the Bordeaux Classification of 1855 soared from 1945 after a string of excellent vintages The vineyards are situated on a plateau west of Pauillac town on gravel There are over 100 hectares (247 acres) of vineyards which beginning from- 2006 have been divided into 200 parcels to more closely match viticultural practices to terroir Cabernet Sauvignon currently accounts for 68 percent of planted area. The rest is planted to Merlot (26), Cabernet Franc (4) and  Petit Verdot (2 percent) Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless-steel vats with extensive remontage (pumping-over) for concentration and color intensity Lynch-Bages is aged for around 15 months in oak barrels A notable feature of the estate is the old vat-house with its traditional slatted floors a process incorporated into many modern winery designs Until 2008 this was known as Château Haut-Bages Averous (the name taken from a former Pauillac estate owned by the family) The rare Blanc de Lynch-Bages, made since 1990, is an oak-fermented, lees-aged white Bordeaux blend from 6 ha (15 acres) of vines in eight different vineyard parcels to the west of the estate. It is sold as AOP Bordeaux One of the best tastings of 2020 was this small-but-perfectly-formed selection of 1996 Pauillac wines Long recognised as the best vintage of the decade on the Left Bank of Bordeaux (along with the 1990), Decanter’s assessment at the time read, ‘A great year for Cabernet, especially in the northern Médoc, and most, though not all, tasters believe 1996 is even better than 1995’. Jane Anson revisits the 'hugely acclaimed' 2015 vintage in Pauillac, tasting a total of 32 wines, both grand vins and their second labels... Pauillac is a name that towers over the Left Bank of Bordeaux. It contains some of the most highly priced vineyard land in the world – good luck finding pretty much anything below €1 million per hectare, with the average now closer to €2 million, the highest in Bordeaux. Its 1,213 hectares cover just 7.5% of the vineyards on the peninsula but contain 18 classified growths from 1855, and three first growths – more than any other appellation. But even here, in this most hallowed of grounds, there are plenty of differences in style. For a start, although there are an abundance of gravel soils, mainly set on outcrops that range from 3m to 30m in height, there are also pockets of sand, clay and even limestone. The 2023 Bordeaux barrel tastings continue with a classically styled Pauillac and an elegant dessert wine Bordeaux's annual en primeur tastings have begun, when the most recent vintage is tasted for the first time. Wine Spectator's James Molesworth is in Bordeaux, tasting the 2023 wines from barrel at some of the region's top estates and sharing his tasting notes. At Château Pichon Baron in Pauillac, he finds cellarworthy Cabernet, and a classically-styled dessert wine from Sauternes. The 2012 vintage for Bordeaux was small and difficult at times which typically leads the way due to its emphasis on Merlot For Cabernet Sauvignon being a later-ripening variety Early October rains created humid conditions which prompted outbreaks of both grey rot and botrytis This meant pickers were having to dodge both wet conditions and rotted grapes to bring in the rest of the harvest The race against rot also meant some Cabernet Sauvignon was brought in before it had fully ripened and careful sorting was essential Yields were slightly down, and the resulting wines were a mixed bag quality-wise. Generally, the whites were very good as much of the harvest was picked during the September, which saw idyllic weather. The best whites typically came from Pessac-Léognan, Graves and Entre-deux-Mers and the best examples tended to have a balanced and refined structure with clear focused fruit The 2012 vintage offers both excellent dry whites and reds and for the top wines 2012 vintage can offer excellent value for money the year is far from being an exclusively “Merlot” vintage Right Bank blends were generally more consistent across the board some excellent Left Bank wines were still made Many wines should be drinking well now and the best should have cellaring potential Pauillac first-growth Mouton Rothschild leads the latest batch of en primeur releases This story will be continuously updated as more wineries release their futures allocations In a time of war and deep economic anxiety with the first top wineries releasing futures allocations this week Early indicators suggest price increases will be minimal with some producers even reducing prices from last year The big question is whether all the top names will show similar restraint Cheval-Blanc and Léoville Las Cases collectively kickstarted the campaign releasing their first tranche of 2021 futures the week of May 16 Pavie trimmed prices slightly and Las Cases dropped them by more than 14 percent compared to the 2020 futures on release the dollar is the strongest it’s been against the euro in several years But the 2021 futures offer twin challenges for sales teams The vintage was not easy: Heavy April frosts drastically reduced yields and a rainy summer left many vintners fighting fungal diseases for much of the growing season Some winemakers had to chaptalize in the cellars And they are quick to point out that methods in the vineyard and the cellar have drastically improved in the past 50 years—outstanding wines can be made even in challenging years Then there’s the economic outlook as the campaign starts Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a surge of COVID-19 cases in China have exacerbated the challenges faced by an economy already struggling with inflation and the after-effects of the pandemic With the S&P 500 officially entering bear market territory this week many who typically invest in Bordeaux futures aren’t feeling flush with cash “In a growing season that was clearly the most difficult since 2013 there is simply no reason for consumers to chase the 2021s simply because their prices are in line with 2020s,” advises Wine Spectator senior editor and lead Bordeaux taster James Molesworth stock up on 2016 Left Bank reds and 2015 Right Bank reds Those are the still-young vintages to be socking away." (Wine Spectator has not yet reviewed the 2021 vintage.) Pauillac second-growth Pichon Longueville Lalande announced their 2021 vintage at €132 per bottle the initial retail price is down 10.5 percent From St.-Julien, Beychevelle posted its 2021 futures pricing at €59 per bottle, ex-négociant, which, unlike many of its peers, represents a 2.1 percent increase over the 2020 release. Initial U.S. retail price is up 5.5 percent at $90. The 2021 Léoville Poyferré Initial retail also remains unchanged at $105 A major Right Bank player stepped into the 2021 futures campaign at the end of this past week, when Count Stephan von Neipperg’s Château Canon-La Gaffelière announced pricing for their 2021 futures at €54 per bottle Initial retail price is 7.7 percent below last year’s Today, another St.-Emilion estate, Troplong Mondot which is a 9.5 percent drop from 2020’s initial retail release Finally, Pauillac first-growth Château Lafite Rothschild which released its Carruades de Lafite at the beginning of this year’s campaign announced futures for its grand vin at €410 per bottle a 13.7 percent decrease from last year’s release These estates represent a selection of leading wineries Retail prices are an average of trusted retailers we follow Prices for the 2021s are listed alongside the current prevailing retail price for Bordeaux's recent benchmark vintages so you can measure where the wines are vis-à-vis those currently on retail shelves You'll find more updates and analyses below the chart NYR means a wine has not yet been submitted for review $NA means a wine has not been released or is not sold in sufficient quantities by U.S retailers yet to determine an average price futures are coming into June hot with a flurry of releases from the Left Bank Malescot-St.-Exupéry in Margaux announced yesterday a 2021 release price of €37.20 per bottle Retailers are pricing it at $57 per bottle a 7.1 percent decrease from 2020’s initial retail price of $61 Pauillac fifth-growths Lynch Bages and Grand-Puy-Lacoste released 2021 futures today with prices unchanged from 2020 a 10.3 percent decrease from last year; GPL remains at €50.40 per bottle with only a 9.8 percent initial retail price decrease from 2020 at $69 a bottle From St.-Julien, fourth-growths Talbot and Branaire-Ducru followed suit with their 2021 futures pricing also unchanged from 2020 Talbot’s price has been set at €39.60 per bottle an 8.9 percent drop from last year’s initial retail price Branaire-Ducru’s owners announced the 2021 vintage at €31.20 per bottle the 2021 initial retail price is 10.6 percent below 2020's New releases have continued to come quickly this week Château Angélus released its allocation on May 23 pricing them at at €265 per bottle ex-négociant up 1.9 percent on their 2020 futures' opening price The St.-Emilion estate has been aggressive with pricing in recent years and this suggests thier not changing their approach There are numerous vintages of Angélus from recent top vintages already on store shelves Always value-conscious, Château Léoville Barton's owners have released its 2021 futures at €55.80 per bottle ex-négociant down 7 percent on the 2020’s opening price Top retailers are offering it for $77 per bottle Château Pavie’s owners released their first allocation of 2021 futures on May 18 down 2.5 percent on the 2020’s opening price leading American retailers are offering it for $302 per bottle the 97-point 2019 vintage is currently available at top retailers for $360 Cheval-Blanc released its 2021 futures the day after Pavie raising prices by 2.6 percent on the 2020’s opening price That’s 7 percent less than the 2020s on release But the 97-point 2019 vintage is currently available at top retailers for $500 The Left Bank debuted its first heavy hitter this morning, as Château Léoville Las Cases released its 2021 futures at €169 per bottle, ex-négociant, down 14.6 percent on the 2020’s opening price. Consumers got the chance to taste dozens of outstanding wines in Chicago, with upcoming … The owner of Stoller and Chehalem wineries was devoted to the future of Willamette Valley … Inside the first U.S. location of the French luxury retailer, guests can enjoy fine wine at … Phase one of the Viticulture and Winery Technology program’s new home, funded by a $10 … The Tuscan wine company has purchased a minority stake in Tenute delle Terre Nere; De … While the White House has paused tariffs on foreign wines at 10 percent for now, the trade … words: Somewhere in the middle lies a collection of wines bottled under the Légende label which represent solid values from the Bordeaux The website describes these wines as “easy and pleasant to drink,” which Take the 2015 Légende Pauillac, a blend of 70 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 30 percent Merlot from the storied Pauillac appellation, where three of the five “first growth” Bordeaux are produced the Légende Pauillac costs a fraction of the price of these first growths but offers a lovely introduction to the appellation The grapes are sourced from Lafite estates and from others in Pauillac and 40 percent of the wine is aged in oak barrels a robust and elegant wine with signature blackberry and cranberry aromas and tastes this wine demonstrates what I love about Bordeaux $18 blend of 60 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 40 percent Merlot Here is how the classified estates have fared with their Pauillac 2016 wines since the en primeur tastings 18 months ago This vintage has the potential to be right up there among the best.. All reviews published online exclusively for Premium subscribers ‘The most famous appellation in the Médoc has delivered some brilliant Bordeaux 2016 wines although its size means you can’t buy with your eyes closed,’ wrote Jane Anson following the en primeur tastings in April 2017 Latour and Mouton have come up with some of their best-ever wines.’ Eighteen months on and the analysis largely holds true, Anson said in her full report on the Médoc 2016 wines, published exclusively for Decanter Premium subscribers this week the in-bottle tastings of classified estates show improvements for some of the big names Bordeaux 2016 on the Left Bank also looks set to be marked by the number of second and third wines that punch above their weight not to mention some excellent Cru Bourgeois-level bottlings where it appeared clearer that much of the best fruit had gone into the first wines In 2016, Duhart-Milon has produced ‘one of the best Moulin de Duhart wines that I can remember’ she warned that 2016 in Pauillac may need a few years in the bottle to be approachable they are likely to remain extremely tight for the foreseeable future,’ she said Click on the wines to see the full tasting note The 2005 vintage for Bordeaux was exemplary A warm beginning to the growing season saw both a successful budburst and flowering Although conditions rarely got hot enough to cause serious vine stress much-needed moisture often came at just the right time as both the Right and Left Banks saw relieving rains in August Further rains fell in September followed by warm sunny days and cool refreshing nights which were crucial to preserving essential acidity and aromatics within the grapes On the Right Bank, Saint-Émilion experienced slightly warmer conditions than the rest of Bordeaux and, as a result, produced huge, bold tannic wines that were mostly sublime but a rare few struggled with unwieldy tannins. However, time in the cellar is likely to have smoothed out a few rough edges. Pomerol was equally powerful Overall, the 2005 Bordeaux vintage delivered an abundance of undeniably elegant Many of the top reds will still drink superbly now and the very best are likely to age even further There are many different Pauillacs, but they are all definitely ‘Pauillac’, and in a Bordeaux vintage like 2014 the showing was strong overall there were still some wines that failed to capture the clarity and class of the vintage but with a harvest so well suited to the commune I expected more regularity 2014 was not a year to go for over-extraction and my preferred wines showed elegance over power while the second wines from the three first growths showed particularly well