Bordeaux 2021

Tasted April 2022. Montaiguillon’s 2021 is another example of what incredible value this property represents. Situated in an elevated spot right on the border of St Emilion, the terroir is exceptional. This year the wine has concentrated blackberry, cassis and spiced plum fruit, but a distinct fresh red fruit character as well, giving amazing freshness. There are developing savoury, graphite, earthy notes beneath which will develop and integrate with age. This is a fantastic, balanced, classic Bordeaux for every occasion.

Tasted April 2022. Incredibly concentrated and tightly coiled, with pure fruit character and classic Bordeaux structure. Tannins are very fine, no doubt down to the careful use of large oak foudres to soften and integrate, and there's plenty of crisp refreshing acidity. The fruit flavours are bright and fresh with red berries, some deeper, dark berry fruit, and some herbal notes. There are already beautiful cedar, graphite, smoky flavours developing. 13%.

G de Guiraud from Château Guiraud is one of our favourite dry whites from Bordeaux and it is made exclusively from organically farmed vineyards. Fresh and fine on the nose with delicate wild flowers and citrus. Zesty on the palate with fresh lemon, a lovely richness and a long finish.

Tasted April 2022. Chateau de Ferrand used more Cabernet Franc than ever before in 2021, and the result is a lively aromatic wine with black and blueberry fruit along with leafy complexity and a limestone-y, mineral finish. The wine is fresh and balanced and there is already a silkiness to the texture of the tannins. This is a property on the rise.

Tasted April 2022. Full of fresh, crunchy blackberry, cranberry and blueberry fruit with medium body and fresh raspberry acidity. This vintage from Château Robin is balanced and approachable, with savoury tannins and a lovely salinity on the finish making it even more appetising.

Tasted April 2022. Very intense black fruits, with a slight aromatic lift and savoury spice. The acidity is fantastically fresh, but balances so well with the pure, ripe fruit. There's complexity of crushed rock, mint and clove. This has density and concentration, but is perfectly poised. The tannins are ripe and there is a lovely saline, appetising quality to the finish, thanks to a higher than usual proportion of Cabernet Franc.

Made entirely from Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc this vintage, the 2021 Larrivet Haut-Brion is an absolute joy. Plums and blackberries mingle on the palate with delicate spicy notes and a distinct mineral finish. Cabernet Franc delivers its characteristic salinity here with an aromatic lift. Definitely a property to watch.

Tasted April 2022. This is an excellent vintage for white wines, and La Garde Blanc is full to the brim with ripe, pure, bright pineapple, grapefruit, and juicy lemon. There's a broadness and lip-smacking quality on the palate from the time on lees. The acidity is incredibly fine, persistent and electric. Ripe and juicy but with great tension and freshness.

A real Lay & Wheeler favourite, the 2021 from Caronne Ste Gemme is everything we want from everyday claret, and in this cooler vintage it's especially refreshing and appetising. Just down the road from St-Julien, it's full of fresh blackcurrant, bramble, gentle spice, and refined tannins.

Tasted April 2022. Linear and precise with restrained blackberry, black cherry and graphite aromas. Medium bodied with a long, saline finish, this has a really mouth-watering, sapid quality. Crushed rock, petals and mint aromas create plenty of complexity but this is approachable and elegant first and foremost.

Brilliant from Alexandre and Guillaume Thienpont this year. This wine is full of tension and freshness but has seriously persistent aromatics as well. There's fragrant black fruits, some floral notes and a slightly crunchy black fruit element on the palate. There are very fine tannins and dense savoury flavours, with just a hint of truffle developing. The acidity is fresh and clean but in no way obtrusive. Generous, refined and delicious.

Tasted April 2022. Rich, ripe, heady and mouth-coating, with pure cassis fruit and black plum. The tannins are incredibly fine and silky, but dense now, and the spicy, complex flavours are broad across the palate. Hints of hazlenut and vanilla in the background but overwhelmingly driven by ripe fruit and the silky texture of the wine.

Tasted April 2022. Another great performance from this St Estephe property on the rise. Full of precise, concentrated red berries on the nose, there’s some floral lift too. Baking spice, cedar, mint and saline notes build complexity and make for a lovely, long, fresh finish sending you back for another sip.

Tasted April 2022. Full of perfume, energy and juicy black fruits. Velvety texture and plenty of ethereal, cooling, savoury Cabernet Franc character sending you back for another sip. The acidity is fresh and clean and the finish is seriously long. 13.1%.

The Castéja family, at the helm at Château Batailley, have produced a delicious wine in 2021. The characteristic freshness of the vintage shines through and makes this a very appetising wine. As always with Batailley, there is a classic Pauillac structure, with plenty of fine tannins and concentrated black fruit and savoury flavours.

Rich and opulent with concentrated flavours of marmalade and candied peel. This is really unctuous but remains fresh thanks to very bright acidity cutting through the richness of the palate.

Tasted April 2022. Precise red and black berry fruit, overlaid with notes of truffle, dried mint, woody herbs, and petals. Fine grained tannins and fresh acidity. There's a tightness and delicacy to the palate now but tons of complexity waiting to unfurl.

Tasted April 2022. Ethereal and elegant, 2021 Rauzan-Ségla is full of precise blackberry and blackcurrant fruit with incredible poise and bright acidity. There's complexity developing with exotic tea leaves, petals and savoury cedar.

Tasted April 2022. Frederic and the team at Figeac have created an incredible wine this year. Bold and perfectly ripe black fruits, there's a brooding quality to the fruit. Very fine and elegant, with all structural elements in good proportion. There's a lovely spiciness building and the tannins are firm now but tightly packed and ripe. Plenty of savoury and mineral notes on the long, textural finish.

Tasted April 2022. Soft black plum and cassis, with aromatic blueberry. Juicy and open on the palate with additional complexity of light spice, tobacco, rose petal, cedar and woody herbs. Tannins are fine and approachable and there's fresh acidity.

Tasted April 2022. Soft, ripe fruit with raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry. Slightly crunchier blueberry and raspberry on the finish. The tannins are silky and ripe, and the acidity is crisp but well balanced with the other elements of the wine.

Tasted April 2022. Full of classic Pauillac character with firm structure, herbal lift, graphite complexity and a core of savoury dark fruit. This isn't overly opulent, but has lots of power, complex licquorice and leather notes, and a mineral-tinged finish. 13%.

Tasted April 2022. Very precise Cabernet nose with blackcurrant and bramble, with graphite and cedar. There's a lovely brightness to this wine, and rhubarb-like acidity. The core of the wine is ripe and deep, with a silkiness to the texture. There's a long mineral-laden finish. This is a class act, with concentration and freshness in harmony.

Tasted April 2022. Seamless and ethereal, the excellent terroir at Chateau Canon really shines in 2021. There's a fresh crushed rock, salty sensation running through the wine making it incredibly appetising, and precise, aromatic berry fruit in the core. A slow and steady fermentation this year has left the wine incredibly deep and complex, but weightless and elegant at the same time. 13.5%

Tasted April 2022. One of our favourite wines tasted from Haut-Médoc this year. Smooth, ripe fruit with freshness on the finish. Really well balanced and good depth of flavour. There's a lovely soft texture but brilliant concentration.

Tasted April 2022. Intense and aromatic, with pure, soft black fruits, and exotic spice, wild herbs and mineral notes adding complexity. The tannins are firm and structured ready for long ageing in bottle, and the finish is fresh and mineral.

Beautifully aromatic with crystalline purity. This elegant white is full of ripe apple, crisp lemon, light herbal notes and jasmine. Clean, bright acidity cuts through the palate and carries the wine to a incredible finish with considerable finesse. A complete bargain.

Tasted April 2022. Absolutely electric this year, one of our favourite wine this vintage. Intense and concentrated, and incredibly pure citrus and stone fruit flavours. Juicy and full in in texture, but with incredible zingy freshness cutting through like a knife. Taut and delicious, this will age beautifully.

Tasted April 2022. Meticulous sorting during harvest and Carmes' unique position close to the warmth of Bordeaux city centre have resulted in a textural, soft-fruited wine in 2021. The team used slightly less of their characteristic whole-bunch fermentation technique this year but the wine is still full of beautiful lifted perfume, aromatic plums, hedgerow fruits and gentle spice. The dominant cabernet franc really comes into its own in this vintage, adding a silky coolness to the palate. It has a very mineral, almost chalky note, and a bright, crisp finish. 13.5%.

Tasted April 2022. Peymouton in 2021 shows a good level of ripeness with fresh, sappy red berries and some darker, more brooding fruit underneath. The structure is firm at this early stage, with lots of fine tannins and fresh acidity. The whole palate is tightly wound, ready to age gracefully in bottle.

Tasted April 2022. A mix of crunchy red fruit and silkier dark fruits on the nose and palate. The tannins are broad and firm at the moment and there's an earthy complexity on the palate. Freshness characteristic of the vintage shines through on the finish.

Tasted April 2022. Seriously impressive in 2021, La Garde has good concentration and a velvet, almost creamy texture. The flavours are full of bramble, blackcurrant, red plum and violets, and there's a developing silkiness to the tannins.

Tasted April 2022. Concentrated and powerful, but still showing the characteristic freshness of the vintage. There's a mixture of ripe black fruit and crunchier red fruits, with a juiciness on the palate which broadens out into a long finish. The structural elements of the wine are tightly wound, but this has the potential to be fantastic with time in bottle. Tannins are ripe and bold at present. There's some lighter, herbal character and aromatics from 30% Cabernet Franc in the blend. 14%.

Tasted April 2022. Full of dense blackcurrant and brighter bramble and raspberry, with a deep, savoury, almost soy complexity. This is medium-bodied and charming, very fruit-forward and juicy but there's fresh acid and silky tannins providing structure and contributing to the appetising nature of this wine. Definitely one to watch.

Tasted April 2022. Potensac in 2021 has its largest proportion of Cabernet Franc ever. The rain in the Summer and heat towards the very end of the season helped to build Franc's aromatic elegance, fine tannins and salinity. The wine has a delicious lifted floral note, and an ethereal quality, with a moreish fresh finish.

Precise core of ripe fruit with a plush, velvety texture. There's crisp, bright acidity and that, along with some fine, bold tannins, shows this has a long life ahead of it. A perennial bargain.

Tasted April 2022. Full of ripe blackcurrant fruit at the core with lifted, minty, herbal notes and some spiciness on the finish. 2021 Lagrange is medium-bodied and easy-going, with fine tannins, fresh acidity and good balance.

Tasted April 2022. The best wine we've tasted from Berliquet, the 2021 is full of dark, brooding fruit. There's a powerful earthiness to the complexity in this wine, and plenty of chalky, cool freshness on the finish. Really well balanced, pure and concentrated.

Tasted April 2022. This seriously impressed with its pure Cabernet fruit, perfectly ripe blackcurrants, delicate spice and cedar. There's a herbal crunchy finish and wonderful elegance and finesse. Very pure and appetising, this is a fantastic buy in 2021. 13.1%.

Tasted April 2022. Pure, aromatic, plush, ripe plums and blackberries dominate the nose of the Hosanna from 2021, turning juicy and fresh on the palate. The tannins are mouth-coating, ripe and fine. There's soft spice and nutty notes from oak in the background and a lovely savoury, mineral finish. The acidity is fresh and there's fantastic balance in the wine which will only improve as it develops and harmonises in bottle.

Tasted April 2022. Aromatic and harmonious, but very tightly wound, 2021 from Château Canon-La-Gaffelière is full of refined dark fruit flavours, floral notes, mint and crushed rock aromas. Deeper, truffle and incense aromas develop on the palate. Well knit together and balanced, it has bright acidity and a spicy, peppery finish.

Tasted April 2022. Branaire-Ducru remains a Lay & Wheeler favourite in 2021. Delicate savoury spice notes frame a core of dark berry fruit, and moderate acidity creates a beautiful fresh finish. Tannins are fine and ripe and add to the moreish, savoury style.

Tasted April 2022. St-Julien performed very well in 2021 and none more so than Léoville-Las-Cases. This wine has a pure, ripe core of brambly, black fruit and the tannins are very fine and ripe too. The acidity is very bright and refreshing and there's a lovely juiciness to the fruit. The finish is long and has a cooling herbal quality.

Tasted April 2022. An incredible shift has taken place at Troplong-Mondot in the past few years, with the new management seeking fresher, elegant, more appetising wines. The 2021 is a triumph, with dense black fruit and crunchier red fruit flavours, and a savoury, herbal lift from Cabernet Franc. For the first time since 1999 it comes in under 14% alcohol. This balance and elegance carries the wine through to a long, savoury finish. 13.5%.

Tasted April 2022. Angélus 2021 has the highest percentage of Cabernet Franc ever, with 60% of the blend. This gives some lovely floral and iodine aromatics, with lovely freshness and just a hint of crunchy red fruit on the mineral finish. The rest of the flavours are of dark fruits, spice, vanilla, and the tannins are ripe and highly structured for long ageing.

Tasted 2022. Yields reduced by 60% this year. Savoury, full of tension and a minerally lip-smacking quality. Fleshy red fruit and black berry fruit dominate the palate, with abundant fine tannins. Classic and elegant, with a lovely fresh finish.

Tasted April 2022. Intense, brooding black fruit aromas, with graphite and earthy aromas, minty and spicy. A slightly saline finish, medium bodied and fine tannins. This feels very complete and classic, with elegance and concentration well balanced.

Tasted April 2022. This vintage is the smallest there has ever been, but the wine is fantastic, full of tension and pure Cabernet character, with more Cabernet Sauvignon than ever in the blend. There's purity and a density to the wine, without the fruit character being overly ripe. There's great freshness here with minty notes on the mid-palate and a cranberry crunch on the finish.

Tasted April 2022. Tightly coiled with a core of powerful fruit and some gravelly tannins framing the wine. This shows a lot of Cabernet character with bold blackcurrant, graphite and some light tobacco notes. Complex and ageworthy, there's some nice crunchy black fruit on the finish.

Tasted April 2022. A massive 98% Cabernet Sauvignon this year. Full of musky, plump black fruits with raspberry, floral notes and dark chocolate. Densely-packed linear, silky tannins and a rich, creamy mid-palate with vanilla spice and cedar. The acidity is fresh and there's a long, saline finish.

Tasted April 2022. More Cabernet was included this year than ever before, with 85% of the blend, with the only other years getting close being 2010 and 2019. This is refreshing and classic, it feels like the vintage really suits the style at Grand-Puy-Lacoste. There's a savoury, licquorice element, a core of dark berry fruit and a mineral-driven finish. 13%.

Tasted April 2022. Concentrated core of ripe black fruit, with supple tannins and spiciness from oak. Around the core is fresh red fruit with some crunchy cranberry acidity and herbal notes. There's a cool, clean freshness on the finish, making this really appetising.

Tasted April 2022. Dark fruits on the nose with crunchier red fruits like cranberry and raspberry on the palate making this bright and fresh. There's some aromatic spice like clove and vanilla on the nose, and more savoury notes on the palate with graphite and a slight floral lift. Tannins are broad and firm at the moment, but in good balance and will soften well with age. Yet again Brane-Cantenac shows fantastic promise.

Tasted April 2022. From small yields, the 2021 from Lafite is full of a heady perfume of bramble and blackcurrant, petals, licquorice, white pepper and clove. Then there's incredible freshness with an appetising salinity and stony, graphite quality on the finish. This is a truly aristocratic wine, elegant, enveloping and full of tension. Impressive persistence, concentration and balance given the moderate 12.5% alcohol.