Médoc & Haut Médoc

Youthful, perhaps, but this is ready to go and an absolute delight a the price, with deep colour, and an inviting spicy fruit nose. The most remarkable element of the tasting at this stage is the suppleness of the cool weight of the wine on the entry - ultra-fine tannins giving real sophis...(read more)

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot. Nicely ripe, a solid mouthful of Médoc from an excellent vintage and it shows - significantly more enjoyable than the 2012 Beaumont itself (this is the second wine). Excellent dark fruit - blackberry /blueberry expression and a lift of pithy tanni...(read more)

Deep colour, full and succulent, stays fresh and with supple mid-palate weight and a fine, direct Médoc character. Refined, but not lacking spice and vigour, this is another excellent Médoc from the Philippe and Gilles Reich, who also make the popular Château Aimée.

Quite intense and juicy with some red pimento powder aroma. Lots of breadth and fun even if far from the most concentrated on the palate. Racy.

Quite a ripe, 'autumn raspberry' sort of fruit on the nose, ripe in the middle, retaining freshness, middle weight, quite harmonious. Not massive but pretty, and with decent length, will probably be rather silky and delicious like the 2012.

Intense black fruit with a touch of bitterness on the palate, and simple spices that prevent this being too one-dimensional

As soon as you put your nose in the glass - you can sense the class of this polished beauty. The fruit is dark and quite serious. There are lovely notes of damson and baked plums. This classic core is lifted and softened by some sweeter, riper black-fleshed berries. There are lovely baking...(read more)

Much dumber on the nose than Langoa, much more Cabernet in character. Thick and serious. Dense yet fresh in expression. Fruitcake, black fruit, spice, indivisible. Lovely dry structure filled with fruit, great intensity of flavour and length. Layered and full of interest as it unfolds on t...(read more)

35% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon. Super deep rich ruby colour. The attack is in perfect balance, fruit ripe but not overripe, pure and full. And fruit is what one tastes, despite 50% new wood, and 25% malo-lactic in barrel. Tannins are there, and are firm, but not out...(read more)

75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, 15% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot. Cool weight of black, fresh, sexy suave fruit. Classical and rich, with impressive weight and power. Graphite minerals and sumptuous cassis. Seriously attractive, very long and one of the hits of the year.

This marks a better showing for Lynch Bages, this bottle retaining the austere, stoic facade but behind it more evidence of blueberry, iodine and violets. Good lift with an undercurrent of sous-bois. Very ripe entry, chewy tannins, blackberry, boysenberry and graphite leading to a dense, d...(read more)

At last shedding its tannins and revealing fabulously rich fruit and great elegance. A wonderful Pauillac.