Bordeaux 2022

Tasted April 2023. 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot. 14.5% ABV. This estate goes from strength to strength and is one of the strongest names in the appelation, with more than a resemblance to Margaux. Appealing nose with dark soft berries, full of perfume and floral notes. Succulent fruit on the palate with plenty of grip and a seam of phenolic and wet stone freshness. The diversity of soils here have really helped, where the Merlot planted on clay was especially good and adds a fleshy, smooth, sensual element to the palate. This is very likely to be the best vintage ever made at the property.

Tasted April 2023. 100% Merlot. Anne-Laurence, who makes Château Marsau, has further increased the use of foudres this vintage to 80%. The remaining 20% is in old barrels, amphora and vats. There's an incredible amount of texture and savoury-tinged fruit on the palate as a result. Fragrant and lifted on the nose, and linear with lots of the chalky, refreshing salinity we love in Marsau. Ripe and focused tannins, present but fine and silky. Yields here were low but the wine really shows the benefits of their regenerative approach in the vineyard. This is a very expressive wine that sings of its people and place.

Tasted April 2023. Lots of power and density in this solar vintage, with soft plum and bramble fruit and plenty of structure that belies its humble price point. There's plenty of freshness amongst the ripe character of the fruit. Year in year out, Montaiguillon is amongst our best value buys from Bordeaux

Tasted April 2023. 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Carmenere. Creamy mid palate of soft red plum and cherry, with brighter redcurrant towards the finish with some mineral freshness. Linear tannins provide plenty of structure, and aromatic spice flavours add complexity.

Tasted April 2023. This is an ambitious project in Castillon, and Jan Thienpont has made a delicious wine in 2022. 14% abv. It's got fantastic balance with ripe black plum and bramble, plus some fresher red berry fruit. Tannins are ripe and fine, creating a rich mouthfeel. Savoury notes create a gourmand finish. A bargain of the right bank. All natural yeast and no filtration. Only old barrels are used, which come from Vieux Chateau Certan, and they help to build a beautiful frame around a core of fragrant fruit.

Tasted April 2023. This vintage Chateau Batailley has produced a special label commemorating the late Queen. 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot. 14.2% abv. 55% new barrels. This is classic Batailley, with powerful, dark, brooding fruit, bramble plum and blackcurrant. Vanilla, pencil box and clove on the nose too, then fresh and vibrant on the palate with savoury notes, spice and fresh cassis. Fresh and mineral on the finish.

Tasted April 2023. 59% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot. Rich and fruity, with fruitcake spice, ripe blackcurrants and plum. Lots of structure with ripe tannins and a silky texture. Fresh and mineral on the finish.

Tasted April 2023. 63% Merlot, 37% Cabernet Sauvignon. This is the first year La Garde was made in their new cellar, allowing an extra level of precision. The result is they've been more selective and made less Grand Vin this year. And the results are great, a brilliant expression from an estate that is still something of an insider's tip. The 2022 is fragrant on the nose nose with floral-tinged blackberry and plum. There are lots of stony tannins and mineral freshness, framing a core of ripe dark fruit.

Tasted April 2023. Fragrant and fresh on the nose with some red cherry and plum as well as darker berries. Refreshing and pure, with plenty of perfume again. Silky style of fruit on the palate then a lifted mineral finish. A great buy this vintage.

One of the great bargains of Bordeaux, and still relatively under the radar. 75% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec. Chateau Marjosse is owned by Pierre Lurton, the man in charge of Cheval Blanc and d'Yquem. He brings a bit of this magic to this estate, where he lives, and the results in 2022 are particularly impressive. It's rich and rounded, with plum and cherry fruit. It's bright and vibrant on the palate, with a velvet texture to the tannins, and a long, spicy finish.

Tasted April 2023. Lots of power and density in this solar vintage, with soft plum and bramble fruit and plenty of structure that belies its humble price point. There's plenty of freshness amongst the ripe character of the fruit. Year in year out, Montaiguillon is amongst our best value buys from Bordeaux

Tasted April 2023. Some Cabernet and Merlot is co-fermented because the berries of Cabernet were so small and concentrated. Rich but fresh, beautifully balance and savoury, graphite and stone quality.

Tasted April 2023. With a new team at Fourcas-Dupré, we were delighted with the quality tasting it en primeur. It's got wonderful balance and savoury-tinged bramble and cassis fruit. This is an estate on the up, and from the far less renowned appellation of Listrac, it provides excellent value.

Tasted April 2023. Some warm, ripe lemon along with orange peel and a pithy note. Hints of botrytis but the opulence is more driven by fruit ripeness than noble rot this year. There's a beautiful long, fresh finish and lots of floral complexity.

Tasted April 2023. 89% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Cabernet Franc. Fresh and vibrant with a refreshing edge. Pure raspberry, blackcurrant and black cherry. Perfumed and elegant.

Tasted April 2023. 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot. 14.2% abv. This delivers everything you expect from Pauillac, with blackcurrant, ripe plum, graphite and clove flavours. There's a ripe, rounded feel on the palate and great concentration of cassis flavour. This seems particularly well balanced this year and should offer great value as a relatively inexpensive Pauillac. The tannins are supple and everything comes together in a complex, fine finish.

Tasted April 2023. New packaging this vintage for this great value estate run by the same team as Chateau Montrose. Rich, opulent fruit style, with plenty of vanilla and sweet spice. Feels open and approachable now, with some bite from the rustic St-Estephe tannins. Fresh and appetising.

Tasted April 2023. One of the hidden gems of the vintage. This is full bodied, layered, plush with black berry fruit and licorice. There's a great, lifted rose petal aroma too and minerally freshness. Balanced and well-proportioned, punching well above its modest price point.

Tasted April 2023. 14.2%. Quite possibly the best Mauvesin Barton we've tasted, the 2022 has a lovely frangrant, juicy character, with expressive, ripe, black fruit, floral notes and spice. It's open and delicious now, but there's structure and complexity here to age.

Tasted April 2023. 50% of the crop this year was lost due to a hail storm in June. Tightly-coiled but powerful with core of blackcurrant fruit and pure dark plum. Plenty of grippy tannin and savoury bite.

Tasted April 2023. This vintage Chateau Batailley has produced a special label commemorating the late Queen. 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot. 14.2% abv. 55% new barrels. This is classic Batailley, with powerful, dark, brooding fruit, bramble plum and blackcurrant. Vanilla, pencil box and clove on the nose too, then fresh and vibrant on the palate with savoury notes, spice and fresh cassis. Fresh and mineral on the finish.

Tasted April 2023. 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 51% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc 2% Petit Verdot. 14.3% abv.Bramble, black plum, perfume and vanilla on the nose, with some more aromatic and juicy blue fruit on the palate. Integrated complex nutty, creamy notes from 45% new oak. Bright initially, it also has some more sturdy structure and stony notes as the palate carries on, then finishes silky and long.

Tasted April 2023. 94% Sauvignon Blanc, 6% Semillon. There's a seam of limestone at La Garde which always gives their white wine a chalky bite, especially refreshing in this warmer year where there's a lot of ripe lemon, passionfruit, and peach fruit. It's fresh and mineral on the palate with some delicate floral notes and vibrant acidity.