CHÂTEAU LA PRADE

The 2016 La Prade is a blend of 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc matured in 50% new oak and the remainder one year old. It has a rather exotic nose with Hoi Sin and light figgy aromas filtering through the red and black fruit. The palate is sweet on the entry with chewy tannin, grippy in the mouth but extracted too much on the finish, ergo it is missing the delineation and tension it otherwise might have possessed. Hopefully this will mellow during its élevage, but I feel there could have been a better La Prade here. Drinking range: 2020 - 2033 Rating: 87-89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2017)

Blueberry jam, crème de cassis, spice, licorice and bittersweet chocolate notes give the 2016 La Prade much of its sweet, unctuous personality. The ripeness and intense color of this late-ripening vintage come thorough in the wine's overall texture, feel and intensity. Tasted next to Puygueraud, Nicolas Thienpont's other Côtes de Bordeaux, La Prade has more plushness and also a slightly more overt, flamboyant expression of fruit. Tasted three times. Rating: 88-91 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2017)

Very dark crimson. Sweet and cassis elixir. Not quite as fresh as Puygueraud but very good. GV Drinking range: 2020 - 2027 Rating: 16.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2017)