Haut Médoc

51% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot. Deep colour. Super-soft sweet-scented harmonious tannins. Not a heavyweight - they've played this gently and used only remontage. The Petit Verdot they describe as the 'salt and pepper' bringing added complexity - there's quite a lot of it here at 9%. Velvety and attractive. 91

Henri Lurton has pulled out another great wine here - proper claret with beginning, middle and end, quite ripe and intense but retaining dryness and drive. Pretty serious. 92

I tasted the same sample as Tim Atkin, and we clearly both thought the same - it was a bit of a shocker, so it may be best to read others' notes which are uniformly full of praise.

Nicely scented nose, floral and cedary spice. Then on the palate there is lovely ripe, dark cherry fruit, super-poise. This is rich but not thick, just a lovely texture and weight kept in check by spice and some earthy minerality. 89 - 91

Sweetness of fruit jumps out of the glass. Gloss and polished suppleness - but just stays within bounds of good ripeness and is not over-done. This is good in a rich full-on style.

Quite harmonious, but a bit of a shrinking violet. Gentle but a bit characterless. 88

Nice nose, discreet but inviting. Bright fruit, in mouth this is perky and fun. Lively and tasty bright fruit, good spice and no hard edges but importantly not too fat - a ray of sunshine in the extensive vintage line up at Ulysse Cazabonne's brilliant tasting.

Tasted twice, neither showed brilliantly - Both samples seen away from Chateau - First one sort of creamy but green. Rather tiresomely lightweight and sweet with not real character. Second sample was a little better - started nicely - good sense of quite loose-knit fruit, some warm notes of woodspice, but then a little hollow. Some good intensity of dark cherry fruit but this finishes a little short and hard. 87

Another Margaux success here, There is a lovely opulent attack of well-ripened fruit - not thick - but a silky richness. Great dark spice and a touch of cedar and high-grade chocolate on the dark spicy finish.

We have keenly followed this good value Margaux estate for the last few vintages. And so it was with great anticipation that we tasted it at the immaculate chateau as they hosted the Margaux UGC tasting this year. Rich, really very ripe plum and raspberry fruit dominate this until a quite firm dense hard core slows the flow, there are some nice creamy parts to this but it dries out a little on the leafy almost green finish. It was widely tasted very well as you can see by the critics notes - perhaps our expectatons were just too high on the day..

For once this is not over-extracted, nor absurdly oaky, but it seems to have a hollow middle and fades a bit on the finish. 88

Seems less excessive than some recent vintages and likeable for that without ever quite becoming compelling. Good black fruit in the middle. 88

Lovely lively nose. Attack bright and full, with a tiny touch of sweetness. Weight and grace. Real volume and chew. I love the meaty richness and chew of this - quite masculine style. This is a generous and open-hearted style for all its refinement. Tannins are very present but all woven in to the texture of the wine from start to finish.94+

Oaky, but a pretty remarkable fruit nose too, sweet and concentratedly expressive. Pretty good so far. Quite a sense of having been wrought. Somehow the finish not as appealing as the start, almost too much in some directions. One to look at again. 89

A familar style here - blackish purple colour, quite good crunch of intense black fruit, but seems a litle blocky. Will provide a satisfying drink. 89

A bit of leafiness, but in a way that gives it lift. A very pretty, slightly creamy, fresh and fruity style, a bit of light relief in amongst some of the extracted and oaky wines of the appellation. Not as 'serious' perhaps, but this will make a classic, elegant wine. 90

48% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot. On first impression you'd assume this had much more Cabernet than the Alter Ego - but it's only 6% more. A tighter weave, pencil box, spice, generous fruit and fine tannins. Finishes well if not particulalry long with a hint of damson. Lovely wine. 93

Quite low-keay, with a bit of sweetness to the fruit, and a bit of body, but no real definition or class. 87

In the style of other recent vintages of this fine and dense classic. Dark and glossy, nose reticent, but with pure black fruit and mineral, intense length. Tannins are fine but also intense, and this is not a wine that will come round quickly: 2020+. 91

As Paul Ponatllier noted - 25 years ago, all the Pavillon rouge would have been in the Grand Vin. Spicy oaky nose, with a supple juicy palate and granular tannins which are a nice tonic counterpoint. Meaty mid-palate, savoury and succulent. Very attractive, very appetising.92+