Bordeaux EP 2025 - all wines released so far...

The 2025 L'If is full of intensity. Quite sculpted and sinewy in profile, there is a fine, detailed red fruit character layered with notes of blood orange and rosehip. A lot of vibrancy through the palate with a beautifully detailed finish of violets, iris and wild herbs.

A striking perfume here with notes of blue fruits, violets, and lavender. The tannins feel fine-grained, compact and polished. This Branaire has both flesh and density with a pure Cabernet character that comes forward. Sinewy a profile, this is a wine with excellent detail and definition.

The earliest and fastest harvest at the estate, the 2025 Calon-Segur is a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. Notes of graphite, iodine, and bright cassis fruit fill the palate. There are accents of cedar and sandalwood, and floral notes of violets and peony. There is gloss and richness here but plenty of tension and freshness too. A compelling Calon this year.

The Petit Verdot performed very well this year so it represents 4% of the final blend of the Grand Vin, the rest comprises of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. There is tension and rather chiselled profile here. Classic, not overstated, there is some flesh but also a brightness and energy. Very fine grain here, there is richness that amplifies with dark berry fruit, gravel, sandalwood and real poise on the finish.

A blend of 62% Merlot, 26.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11.8% Cabernet Franc this feels like a modern classic. Gravelly, dense and tense, there is a muscular frame to the wine yet with a detail and lightness of touch. Aromas of sandalwood, incense and wild herbs lift from the core of cassis fruit. Excellent density here, powerful and classy yet remaining tense and focused. There is an unrelenting energy - classical and aristocratic.

Clocking in at just 12.5% alcohol, this is a contemporary classic. Showing excellent definition with so much intensity, notes of graphite and sandalwood spice gently waft from the glass. There is a fluid quality to the wine, that flows across the palate from start to finish with a levity and focus. Saline and pure with a fine, yet unrelenting web of tannins like cashmere over the dark berry fruit. A true modern classic, this is full of elegant, noble, silky Pauillac intensity that almost catches you off guard with its finesse.Sinewy, elegant power, this is irresistible.

Tight and coiled, this has lovely energy pulsing through the wine behind a veil of ripe dark berry fruit. Notes of plums and cherry fruit, liquorice accented with mineral notes of graphite and gravel. This is delicious showing both lots of flesh and charm yet with a restraint and serious focus to match.

This wine has even higher levels of tannins than the 2022 yet they are so seamlessly integrated. There is brilliant aromatic clarity on the nose with notes of juniper, wild herbs, dark cherry and gravel. There is flesh and the charm of ripe bramble fruit on the mid-palate but the wine then coils up with super tension through the finish. Fine and sinewy tannins from the fruit, but it is only on the finish you notice the true power here. Brilliant.

Classic Lynch Bages, the 2025 is brooding, inky, and dripping with violets, cassis, tobacco, pencil shavings. A wine of huge potential, this marries a muscular profile with finesse and definition. There is an athletic energy here with a pure Pauillac profile of gravelly intensity. A wine of excellent balance this will number among the best recent vintages from this estate.

A classic Poyferre with a rounded, caressing and creamy feel to the fruit. Wonderfully proportioned with no edges at all. Violets, layers of liquorice, and savoury spice accenting the bright purple fruit. A modern wine, full of charm and approachability yet intense and quite serious all the same.

A vibrant and energetic style with a dazzling purity of fruit. Violets, peony and a little cocoa-dusted cherry fruit lead to the finely crafted, sinewy finish.

This is quite fleshy and modern style of Phelan. Notes of spice, incense and cocoa lift with quite powerful, rich fruit behind. There is definition and class here.

The 2025 Pontet Canet offers quite explosive aromatics with notes of blue fruits, black tea, and lavender. Rounded almost creamy merlot character of plum and red cherry coat the mid-palate with a bright line of acidity as a counterbalance. Showing a sinewy and supple tannic architecture, this finishes with a subtle earthy note of iris root and liquorice.

This vintage of Talbot has dark, brooding fruit with gravelly notes of graphite and iris root. There is a seriousness here with a supple, driven feel on the palate that leads to a juicy, and fleshy bramble finish.

A flinty, zesty and tense white this year which is a blend of 70% Semillon and 30% Sauvignon Blanc. Vibrant and crystalline with notes of lime blossom, hints of ginger and sourdough crumb this will come together well and is one of the great whites of this vintage.

The red, is a classically framed, sculpted Pessac full of gravelly, cassis-edged intensity. At only 12.5% alcohol, this has a bright, vibrant profile yet with waves of intensity. A blend of 30% Merlot, 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Petit Verdot, there is a beautiful tension and drama to the wine.