Gorgeous notes of red, blue, and black fruits as well as sandalwood, tobacco leaf, chocolate, and spicy notes emerge from the 2019 Château Labégorce, one of the richer, more opulent, and straight-up sexy wines in the vintage. A blend of 46% Merlot, 40%% Cabernet% Sauvignon, 9%% Cabernet% Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, all raised in 40% new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, has beautifully integrated oak, a stacked mid-palate, and one heck of a great finish. Drink this rich, sensationally textured Margaux any time over the coming two decades. It’s unquestionably in the same league as the 2015, 2016, and 2018. Drink 2022‑2042. Rated 94. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com April, 2022

The 2019 vintage of Château d'Yquem has the highest proportion (45%) of Sauvignon Blanc in any modern Yquem. The Sauvignon Blanc adds to the freshness, acting as a great balance to the succulent, sweet and voluptuous palate. Intense peach and apricot, combined with lemon and orange zest, make this highly appealing to drink right away – an ideal vintage with which to start Yquem’s ‘lighthouse’ project. However, it would be a shame not to give this 10+ years maturation to see how it develops. Very well, I suspect. The growing season was both warm and wet, with mildew a big threat. After a mostly dry September, 40mm rain came at the end of the month, leading to a very short harvest window. All of the Yquem grapes were picked in two tries within a one-week period. Residual Sugar: 138g/L. Drink 2025‑2060. Rated 97. Andy Howard, MW, decanter.com February, 2022

A truly great Lafite, and maybe the wine of the vintage, the 2019 Château Lafite-Rothschild reveals a deep purple color as well as an ultra-classic bouquet of crème de cassis, lead pencil, unsmoked tobacco, chocolate, and gravelly minerality. Deep, full-bodied, and flawlessly balanced, it's a magical, heavenly bottle of wine that's going to be approachable with just 5-6 years of bottle age yet evolve for a 100 years or more. It reminds me of the 2016, only with a touch more sexiness and opulence. Drink 2025‑2125. Rated (98-100). - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com June, 2020

Produce of about 60% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Malbec; dense full ruby in color; aromas suggestive of warm vineyard floor dusty berry and № 2 pencil shavings with something more in calm reserve identify this almost immediately as claret (with air the wine revealed a touch of reglisse; Henry noted a confectionary cherry tone); structured and herbal onto the tongue with gentle, almost chewy tannins that give a sense of mouthfilling breadth and rondeur and gentle but persistent intensity of flavor; Henry summed it nicely noting that 'all the classic claret elements were in place here' with additional notes of blonde tobacco and cocoa, but, to be sure, these are typically elements of far more expensive wine …

Pure magic and one of the finest expressions of this estate I could imagine, as well as a perfect wine, the 2018 Château Léoville Las Cases comes from a mix of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, and 9% Cabernet Franc that spent 19 months in (I believe) all new French oak. Its dense purple color is followed by a profound wine loaded with notions of crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, melon, crushed stone, tobacco, and violets. Full-bodied, concentrated, and massive on the palate, yet also incredibly well delineated and precise, it has a wonderful mix of seemingly ripe, sunny fruit from a warm year yet the minerality, purity, and precision of a cooler year. This wine is going to be just about immortal; however, do your best to hide bottles for a solid 10‑15 years. Drink 2031‑2081. Rated 100. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com March, 2021

Every bit as good as the 2009, and I think better than the 2010 and 2016, the 2018 Château Léoville Poyferré is a total thrill that tops out my scale. Based on 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, its dense purple hue is followed by an incredible, full-bodied monster of a wine that, despite massive amounts of fruit, tannins, and extract, still stays weightless and ethereal, with incredible purity. Loaded with notions of crème de cassis, spring flowers, tobacco, violets, charcoal, and cedar pencil, it's extraordinarily concentrated, flawlessly balanced, and has a finish that won't quit. This is a legendary wine in the making. Give bottles 7-8 years, a decade would be even better, and it will keep for 40-50 years. Hats off to the Cuvelier family for another extraordinary wine! Drink 2028‑2078. Rated 100. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com March, 2021

Deep purple-colored and a classic Saint-Julien with its pure crème de cassis, graphite, liquid rock, and essence of lead pencil shavings, the 2016 Château Léoville Barton is full-bodied, concentrated, and backward, with bright acidity and ripe yet certainly present and building tannins. This old-school, classic Léoville Barton has a fine thread of acidity keeping the wine focused and fresh. It’s a beauty, but mostly potential at this point, although it does have beautiful fruit. Savvy readers will hide bottles at the back of their cellar, and I wouldn’t start to think about opening bottles for a least a decade. It’s going to be incredibly long-lived. The blend of the 2016 is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot, brought up in 60% new French oak. Drink 2029‑2069. Rated 96+. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com February, 2019

The 2015 Léoville Barton has one of the richest bouquets in the appellation, boasting almost ostentatious blackberry, raspberry and bilberry scents on the nose, suffused with crushed limestone and light graphite aromas. The medium-bodied palate is taut and crisp, delivering a fine bead of acidity and freshness from beginning to end. Mainly black fruit here, with suggestions of leather and mocha toward the finish. Superb. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. Rated 95. - Neal Martin, vinous.com January, 2019

The 2012 Léoville-Barton has a touch more precision and drive compared to 2012 Langoa-Barton, blackberry and raspberry, cedar and mint, almost Pauillac in style. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, quite feisty and vibrant with good concentration on the finish. This is quite a serious Saint-Julien, and it has the substance to age well in bottle. Excellent. Tasted twice at Bordeaux Index's Ten Year-On tasting and blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting. Drink 2023‑2040. Rated 93. - Neal Martin, vinous.com February, 2022

In 2011, Lilian Barton (of Châteaux Léoville-Barton and Langoa-Barton) and her husband, Michel Sartorius, purchased Château Mauvesin, a 220-hectare property which, as Lilian herself puts it « has a real soul that envelops you when you visit, casting a spell as you discover the unique charm of the place ». The vineyard is situated in the Moulis‑en‑Médoc appellation to the north of the city of Bordeaux and on the left bank of the Gironde estuary. The 46 hectares of vines comprise 54% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc. A portion of the vineyards are planted to clay/gravel soils, perfectly suited for the growing of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Another portion is planted to fine gravel and sandy soils, on which the Cabernet Sauvignon may reach full ripeness. Lovely medium ruby in color; classic (and classy) restraint on the nose with aromas suggestive of cassis, violet and earth (more petrichor than just dirt; with more air there is also a hint of reglisse, always a welcome feature of fine European red wine); our wine buyer found it gently austère on the palate, whereas both Andrea and Henry found it more giving, with fine dusty tannins, then finishing in a flourish of intense earthy berry flavor and mouthwatering minerality; this is clearly a fine if more reasonably priced Bordeaux from folks that have long possessed the savoir‑faire to produce the very finest.

The 2014 Château Latour is still a baby and relatively closed and backward, offering darker, meaty black fruits, tobacco, truffly earth, and graphite on the nose. It's much more dense and structured than I would have imagined from tasting on release and offers full‑bodied richness, a beautiful mid‑palate, fabulous overall balance, and no shortage of tannins on the finish. This vintage was terrific for the Médoc, particularly the northern Médoc, and this beauty warrants another 7‑8 years of bottle age, after which I suspect it will have well over 3 decades of overall longevity. The blend is 89.9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9.2% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that hit 12.8% alcohol. Drink 2030‑2055. Rated 96+. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com August, 2022

The second wine of this great château, the 2016 Les Forts de Latour continues to impress. I commented on release that it was the best wine in the vintage, and my opinion hasn't changed. This beauty offers plenty of classic Latour character as well as notes of blackcurrants, saddle leather, lead pencil shavings, and dried flowers. Full-bodied, concentrated, and perfectly balanced, it's just now starting to round into form and will no doubt continue drinking well for another 2+ decades. It's a gorgeous Pauillac. Drink 2022‑2044. Rated 95. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com August, 2022

A youthful, unevolved 2018 with lots of up-front blue and black fruits as well as cedary herbs, violets, and scorched earth, the 2018 Château Gloria is medium to full-bodied and has a beautifully balanced, elegant mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and both richness and freshness. The purity of fruit is spot on. It's another brilliant wine from this estate that readers will love. It's going to benefit from 2-4 years in the cellar and cruise for two decades in cold cellars. Drink 2023‑2043. Rated 94. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com March, 2021

The 2018 La Gaffelière is hands down one of the wines of the vintage. Towering in its stature and vertical lift, the 2018 dazzles right out of the gate. Inky dark fruit, mocha, spice, licorice and leather all run through this deep, wonderfully pliant Saint-Émilion. The 2018 is rich, deep and beautifully resonant, with tremendous depth and tons of stature that builds, all framed by beams of supporting minerality that confer vibrancy. La Gaffelière is distinctive, alluring and arresting right out of the gate. It is another magnificent showing from this reborn estate. The blend is 63% Merlot and 37% Cabernet Franc. Magnifique! Drink 2028‑2043. Rated 99. - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com March, 2021

The 2015 Pontet Canet is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot brought up in 50% new oak, and 35% in amphora. With textbook Pauillac notes of lead pencil shavings, tobacco leaf, smoke, and licorice, as well as a core of pure crème de cassis fruit, this beautiful, full-bodied, impeccably balanced is one of the few 2015s that’s going to demand cellaring. The tannin are high, yet sweet, and like its bright acidity, nicely integrated into the wine. Forget bottles for 5-7 years and enjoy over the following three decades. I don’t put this as the level of the 2009 and 2010, but it’s still a beautiful wine. Tasted three times. Drink 2023‑2053. Rated 95+. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com November, 2017

Built in the 11th century on the highest point of the Entre‑deux‑Mers, the Château de Benauge (a fortified castle, to be sure) has dominated the nearby vineyards for over a thousand years. Endowed with a rich and thrilling history, it was notably a hotbed of resistance to the Gascon revolt in the fall of 1253. In 1426 by royal decision of King Henry VI (king of both France and England at the time), the viscount was officially established as the county of Benauge. The Château de Benauge has been listed as an historical monument since 1995. And while the Entre‑deux‑Mers may not now be so exalted in terms of its wines, it is doing noble work supplying solid trustworthy red and white wines at prices the rest of us can the more easily afford. From the fruit of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon vines averaging 25 years in age planted to the clay and gravel soils of the south-facing hillside beneath the château, this 2018 Château de Benauge Cuvée des Seigneurs Bordeaux Supérieur (red wines from the Entre‑deux‑Mers are typically labelled Bordeaux Supérieur) is a dense almost opaque ruby in color with aromas that stick to the script, it's grapes and good winegrowing earth; fleshy, ripe, dark‑fruited with good intensity of flavor, medium full in body with underpinning of dusty ripe tannins that any typical good‑quality Bordeaux would demonstrate.

From the fruit of 75% Sauvignon Blanc, 19% Sauvignon Gris and 6% Sémillon vines planted to 11 hectares located in the communes of Cussac‑Fort‑Médoc and Saint‑­Laurent du Médoc. These vineyards are located on two distinct soils of gravelly sand and limestone clays. The blend is oriented to produce an elegant and delicate wine, well‑proportioned in body and without excessive acidity. Shimmering pale platinum/yellow in color with aromas that tend to express the higher proportion of Sauvignon Blanc with suggestion of a pinch of mint, peach, clay and pebbly earth and, eventually, the smell of fresh green/gold grapes in the cool of the early morning late summer's harvest; both ample and fresh on the tongue, demonstrating poise and a brilliant equilibrium along with a refreshing and innervating intensity of flavor.

Produce of 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec and Petit Verdot fruit from vines averaging over 50 years in age and grown on gravel soils over a rare outcropping of limestone near the town of Bégadan north of Lesparre on the Médoc peninsula. Dense ruby/purple in color with aromas suggestive of dark ripe berries, ripe blue plum, baking spices and more; this is the more modern vintage‑driven fruit‑bomb version of Bordeaux, well‑endowed on the palate with dense dark ripe fruit flavors, ample, generous with ripe rounded tannins giving shape and sustaining dark ripe berry flavors long on the finish. Impressive effort from the far reaches of the northern Médoc.

Château Carbonnieux is a legendary white wine. It is said that in the 18th century it was introduced into the palace of the Sultan of Constantinople because of its clarity and was called «d’eau minérale de Carbonnieux» thus skirting the law of the land against beverage alcohol. The clay-limestone of Garonne gravel found in the Pessac-Léognan appellation of the Graves near the city of Bordeaux itself certainly produces the best dry white wines in the region. Vivid platinum in color with glints of green/gold; both ripe and fresh in aroma with suggestion of apple and mirabelle plum, one can sense the roughly ⅓ Semillon in the wine with a touch of mint, figue and hints of toast (or is it pie crust) and summer rain-moistened pebbly vineyard floor (the wine really shows its complexity with a bit of air); there is a generosity and rondeur on the palate without sacrificing freshness and vibrancy, a nice mineral streak along with fresh grapey acidity wipes the slate clean and leaves the mouth just watering away, waiting for another delicious pull.

A full-bodied powerhouse as well as a perfect wine, the 2018 Château Montrose is a final blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc that was raised in 60% new French oak. Boasting a deep purple hue as well as awesome levels of crème de cassis and smoky blackberry fruits and notes of tobacco, lead pencil, scorched earth, and chocolate, it's deep, opulent, and incredibly concentrated on the palate, with no shortage of mid-palate depth, tannins, or length. It reminds me a little of a fresher version of the 2003, although there's more Cabernet Sauvignon in 2018 as well as less Merlot. It has that classic Montrose minerality and backward, mineral-laced style, yet I suspect this will be drinkable in just 5-6 years and should evolve into a modern-day legend from this terroir. Drink 2027‑2077. Rated 100. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com March, 2021

The 2018 Montrose is dazzling. Whereas so many 2018s are opulent and broad, Montrose is a wine of vertical explosive power. Ripe Cabernet aromatics soar out of the glass, making a strong first impression. Black cherry, leather, licorice, graphite and menthol develop later as the 2018 starts to open in the glass. The energy, vibrancy and drive here are palpable right out of the gate. Montrose is one of real stars of 2018. Don't miss it! Drink 2028‑2058. Rated 97. - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com March, 2021

An incredible expression of Merlot grown on limestone soils, the 2018 Château Belair-Monange (90/10 Merlot and Cabernet Franc) sports a dense purple hue as well as powerful notes of blackcurrants, kirsch liqueur, flowery incense, chalky minerality, and white truffle. Rich, full-bodied, and beautifully concentrated, it's a serious 2018 offering integrated oak, ripe yet building tannins, and one hell of a great finish. The finest vintage of this cuvée I've tasted, it's a wine to seek out and hide in the cellar for a good 5-7 years. It's going to evolve for 30-40 years. Drink 2026‑2056. Rated 98. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com March, 2021

The 2018 Bélair‑Monange races across the palate, showing its exuberant, flamboyant personality. Ripe plum, mocha, blood orange, star anise and cinnamon fill out the layers effortlessly. Sumptuous and generous, with striking balance, Bélair‑Monange hits all the right notes. It can be enjoyed with minimal cellaring, but also has the pedigree to age effortlessly for decades. Drink 2026‑2058. Rated 96. - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com March, 2021

While the 2018 Château Beauséjour (Duffau-Lagarrosse) doesn't match the 2009 or 2016, it's certainly not far off. I wish every reader could taste this beautiful, age-worthy Saint-Emilion, and they should certainly have bottles in the cellar. Coming from a gorgeous hillside terroir of clay and limestone soils outside of Saint-Emilion and a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, it reveals a dense purple hue as well as classic Saint-Emilion minerality in its cassis and blue fruits as well as notes of damp earth, truffle, tobacco, and spring flowers. With full-bodied richness, a concentrated, backward, structured mouthfeel, lots of tannins, and just a brilliant mix of richness and elegance, it needs a good 5-7 years in the cellar and will have 40-50 years of prime drinking. Drink 2026‑2076. Rated 97. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com March, 2021

This estate continues to fashion a complex, elegant, seamless style of wine. The 2017 Chateau Rauzan-Segla offers a deep purple color as well as gorgeous notes of cassis, crushed violets, tobacco, and leafy herbs. Pure Margaux on the palate with its medium to full-bodied, ultra-fine, seamless texture, this flawlessly balanced 2017 will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and keep for 20-25 years. The blend is 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot, all aged in 60% new French oak. Drink 2024‑2050. Rated 94+. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com February, 2020

The 2017 Rauzan-Ségla is coming together very nicely. Soft and silky, the 2017 is a wine of pure and total finesse. Sweet red cherry and plum fruit, tobacco, cedar and licorice add pretty top notes, but more than anything else, the 2017 impresses with its statuesque elegance and total balance; nothing in particular stands out. For that reason, Rauzan-Ségla is the sort of wine that is easy to overlook, and yet all the elements of a top notch Left-Bank wine are present. Tasted three times. Drink 2027‑2047. Rated 94. - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com March, 2020

The 2018 Meyney is every bit as impressive as it was en primeur. Technical Director Anne Le Naour has done a terrific job in reining in some of the excess weight and power of previous vintages, but without sacrificing richness. Classy and layered, Meyney boasts fabulous depth and tons of character. Ripe red/purplish fruit, spice, blood orange, smoke and incense are some of the many aromas and flavors that mesh together. The 2018 offers striking immediacy, but also has enough structure to develop well in bottle for 15-20 years, maybe more. The 2018 Meyney is a wine of immense pleasure. Best of all, it is a tremendous value. Drink 2023‑2043. Rated 93. - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com March, 2021

The grand vin 2017 Chateau Palmer checks in as 54% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Petit Verdot brought up in 60% new French oak. This deep purple-colored beauty gives up more cassis fruits as well as hints of chocolate, graphite, smoked herbs, and crushed violets. Beautifully concentrated, rich, and full-bodied, it has a wonderful sense of elegance and purity, laser-like precision, building tannins, and a great finish. Give bottles a solid 7-8 years and it's going to evolve for 25-30 years or more. Drink 2027‑2057. Rated 95+. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com February, 2020

One of the wines of the vintage on the Left Bank, the 2017 Palmer is fresh and vibrant, with tons of energy. Veins of supporting salinity and floral overtones lend grace to the Grand Vin in 2017. I imagine Palmer will only blossom with a few years in bottle. Time in the glass brings out pretty notes of dark fruit, mocha, spice, leather and licorice, but overall, the 2017 is quite reticent, especially given what readers have come to expect here. The blend is 54% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot. Technical Director Thomas Duroux told me his team harvested all the fruit in nine days as opposed to the more typical 2-3 weeks. The 2017s were done with no SO2 at crush. Duroux stopped the pump overs early and favored gentle extractions. Both wines are in the 13-13.2 range of finished alcohol. Drink 2027‑2047. Rated 96+. - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com March, 2020

The 2017 Branaire-Ducru is all class and finesse. Bright and focused, the 2017 speaks with a clear, well-articulated voice. I especially like the energy here. Soft and understated in the classic Branaire style, the 2017 offers notes of red and purplish fruit intermingled with expressive floral and spice notes. The 2017 is such a pretty Saint-Julien. Tasted two times. Drink 2025‑2037. Rated 94. - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com March, 2020

The 2017 Langoa Barton is so beautiful, just as it was en primeur. Rich, fleshy and seductive in the glass, the 2017 exudes charm from the very first taste. Succulent red cherry, red plum, mint, tobacco and blood orange all flesh out in this wonderfully inviting, alluring Saint-Julien from the Barton family. Drink 2022‑2037. Rated 93. - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com March, 2020

The 2017 Langoa-Barton has a wonderful bouquet with blackberry, briary, potpourri and light violet scents that are extremely well integrated with the 60% new oak. Nothing pretentious, nothing extravagant. The palate is medium-bodied with very supple tannin, one of the most pliable Langoa’s that I can recall with plenty of black cherry and cassis fruit on the structured finish. This is a great Langoa-Barton that comes highly recommended. Drink 2022‑2045. Rated 93. - Neal Martin, vinous.com February, 2020

Another brilliant wine from the genius of Frédéric Faye, the 2016 Château Figeac checks in as 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc that spent 19 months in new French oak. Roughly 75% of the production made it into the grand vin. This deeply colored beauty is a legendary wine in the making and offers ultra-pure aromas and flavors of crème de cassis, smoke tobacco, dried herbs, chocolate, truffle, and graphite. Showing more violets notes with time in the glass, it builds incrementally on the palate, with flawless balance as well as incredible elegance, no hard edges, and a finish that won't quit. Readers will have a blast comparing the 2016 and 2015 vintages over the coming 3-4 decades and this estate is firing on all cylinders. This will most likely merit a triple-digit rating in 7-8 years and keep for 4 decades or more. Drink 2026‑2066. Rated 98+. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com February, 2019

The 2019 Château Puygueraud is also terrific, with ripe darker cherry, plum, leafy tobacco and hints of chocolate on the nose. This medium-bodied, rounded, supple, elegant beauty has soft tannins, wonderful balance, and a great finish. Drink it over the coming decade. Drink 2022‑2032. Rated 92. - Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com April, 2022

Sister and brother Caroline and Pierre Bécot learned the winegrowing ropes on the family’s Saint‑Émilion Grand Cru Classé estate, Château Beau‑Séjour Bécot, where they were initiated into high quality standards, hard work and the rigorous attention to detail required to make un grand vin. On the 1st of April, by a nice stroke of luck, they purchased this property in Puisseguin‑Saint‑Émilion, a satellite appellation of Saint‑Émilion itself. Their wish was to remain in the same area where their family and their father, Dominique, had been settled for a long time. Produce of 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc fruit of vines an average age of 35 years and planted to the clay/limestone soils on the plateau of Puisseguin (5km from the village Saint‑Emilion); deep translucent ruby in color with rather straightforward aromas suggesting spiced plum, taut red berries, bing cherry, earth (good winegrowing earth) and stone; at once both firm and smooth on the tongue, with a gentle kirsch‑like astringency and fine, polished, well‑resolved dusty tannins carrying delicate flavors on the long, fine, gently warming finish. Henry noted a "through‑line" with the wine, that the wine was identifiably Roc de Bécot (we adored the previous vintage), 'a firmer but more filigreed expression of Merlot with bright bursting off‑the‑vine berry fruit'. Our wine buyer recalled that Puisseguin‑Saint‑Émilion (along with a nice piece of Brie) was among his first introductions to high‑quality red Bordeaux. Delicious memory at that.

Château Marjosse is a small but historical Bordeaux property, built in 1782 and located near the village of Tizac‑de‑Curton in the heart of the Entre‑deux‑Mers region just east of the city of Bordeaux. The winery is simply‑equipped but marvellously functional, with cellars now over two hundred‑years old. There are 35 hectares of vineyards exceptionally well‑situated on a clay and limestone plateau around 300 metres above sea level. Winemaker, Pierre Lurton, born and raised in a neighbouring château, bought the property piece by piece starting in 1991 and has been producing widely-acclaimed, sensibly-priced red and white wines since. A blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, Sémillon and Muscadelle from the cooler, more classic 2021 vintage; vivid platinum/yellow with glints of green in color and ultra-fresh aromas suggestive of sappy green fig, cool melon, white peach, gooseberry and crushed stone (we remind ourselves that it is the stuff of cool green grapes growing in among their happiest of places); at once, both svelte in body and just ample and rounded on the tongue, with nerve and freshness to spare, and just lots and lots of mouthwatering fresh flavor to the finish.

Located about 10 km to the west of Pauillac at Saint-Sauveur in the Haut-Médoc, Château Rollin is officially classified as a Crus Bourgeois. This 2019 vintage is our first taste from this property and we are wholly impressed. Produce of the fruit of 50% Merlot, 48% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petit Verdot vines planted to silty gravelly soils of the various plots of vineyard located within 1½ kilomètres around the cellars; medium deep ruby in color with aromatics suggestive of fleshy berry, ripe plum, spice and vineyard floor (Henry noted suggestion of roasted red pepper); poised and structured on the tongue, ample, mouthfilling, almost spherical in shape with a crunchy, innervating fruit quality and fine, resolved tannins delivering a nice wollop of classic, if modern and ripe claret flavor. Oh, and do check the price. This is simply stunning value in good left bank Bordeaux red wine.