CHÂTEAU L'IF

Love the aromatics here, and vibrant ruby colour, this is a real success and bright spot in the vintage, one to look out for, fragrant, tomato leaf, peony, lilac, raspberry fruits, lots of energy and delicate juice, not a powerhouse but skilful and early to medium drinking. 3.37 ph. Harvest 4 to 8 October, really held on to push for maturity. 30% new oak, even after sorting they are at 39hl/h yield here on these clay-limestone soils. Touch of chaptilsation and saignée, showing that even with waiting til October to harvest these things were needed. Drinking range: 2029 - 2040 Rating: 92 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (May 2025)

The 2024 L'If was picked from October 4 to 6 for the Merlot, then October 8 for the Cabernet Franc. It aged for 12 to 16 months in 50% new oak. This has a fragrant bouquet, with mainly red fruit and slate-like scents. The palate is medium-bodied and balanced, with slightly chalky tannins and a little flesh on the mid-palate. Lightly spiced on the finish, this is a comparatively straightforward L'If compared to previous vintages that will serve as a fine earlier drinking Saint-Émilion. Drinking range: 2028 - 2038 Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2025)

85 M 15 CF 13% Violet and rose-petal floral perfume with some sweet spices and hints of the beginning of oak (50% new). Plenty of concentration and depth, especially so for the vintage. Lots of selection and work in the vineyard is apparent in the glass, and the percentage of the first wine is much smaller than usual. Nevertheless this maintains an elegance and freshness, but with the characteristic silkiness of texture on the finish. This should be approachable in relative youth, and be a triumph for the vintage. Rating: 93 Rod Smith MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2025)