Easter Cellar Raids - Bordeaux

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. Raspberries and blackberries, fresh and ripe, mingle with light floral notes and black pepper in this medium-bodied, fresh style of Larcis-Ducasse. The savoury, mineral, umami notes carry on through the long finish. Quite restrained at the moment, but with plenty of complexity developing already.

Deep and brooding, very mineral and fine, striking tannic structure and there's a depth to the fruit. Power, balance and intensity. Really impressively put together with energy and length.

This Pauillac is produced by Domaine Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) using grapes collected from younger vines at Château Duhart Milon and Château Lafite Rothschild. The wines of the Lafite stable performed very well in 2020, with the Réserve Spéciale Pauillac being no exception. There's charming black fruits, with blackcurrant, a brambly character, and a precision consistent with its pedigree. The wine, though approachable now, should continue to drink nicely for years to come.

The 2020 Rieussec is delicious. Full of layers of zesty citrus, fresh mandarin, peach, honeysuckle and white flowers, as well as baking spices and a hint of marmalade. Rich, textural but refreshing and lifted on the finish. Each bottle has a distinctive resealable cork closure.

An impressive Le Gay, this opens with notes of violets, chocolate, and ripe purple fruit. The palate finds the perfect balance between freshness and exuberence with fleshy bramble fruit clothing the wine's ripe tannin. This ends with a long, supple finish and accents of liquorice and brine.

Biodynamically farmed, with one of Bordeaux’s most innovative approaches in the cellar, Palmer is a wine that perennially impresses with its opulence, nuance, and wonderfully aromatic expression of black and blue fruits. The 2020 Palmer is a blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 48% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot. Mesmerising aromas of Morello cherries, cassis, and fresh, crunchy plums unfurl effortlessly in the glass while there are hints of Pauillac-like pencil shavings too. The finish is long, complex and harmonious. This is a wonderfully proportioned, beautiful Palmer sure to impress for years to come.

Tasted April 2022. Soft plummy fruit and bramble notes. Generous and full on the palate, with moderate grip in the tannins and a lovely fresh red fruited finish.

An outstanding value Pomerol, now owned by Calon-Segur this is undoubtedly one to watch. An insider's tip from the Pomerol plateau, this has energy, power, and ripeness in perfect balance. A beauty.

Tasted April 2022. Incredibly impressive, from a tiny plot mainly next to Troplong Mondot. Very cool and fresh, with crunchy red fruits on the finish. The core of the wine is full of dark cherry, black plum, and spicy notes like clove and licquorice. There's a chalkiness to the texture and a long, mineral finish. Truly breathtaking.

The 2020 Château La Gaffelière is another incredible wine from this estate, that's producing some of the finest wines on the right bank right now. Chiselled and precise, with lots of energy, this manages to balance the solar character of the vintage, with real purity and precision. An incredible wine, and one of the picks of the vintage.

The 2020 Pavie-Macquin is another lovely wine from this impressive Thienpont-owned estate. Fine tannins and intense fruit, with lots of spice and minerality on the finish. Really well put together in 2020.

When asked whether the Château was having to change anything to compensate for climate change, Marie Descotis, who heads up the Château's research and development department, explained that their terroir is proving to be perfect for the somewhat warmer and drier conditions over the last few years, allowing their Cabernet Sauvignon to flourish. The blend this year is made up of 86% of this Cabernet, 10% Merlot and the rest split between Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The resultant wine is the most concentrated they have ever produced, yet it is also incredibly poised and balanced. Dark berry fruits, notes of woodsmoke and spice come through on the nose. The palate is immediately fresh and pure, with a layered sense of fine tannin, depth and power. There is a graphite-like grip to the structure, a definite minerality and a core of cool-natured, classic fruit. Despite the concentration and density in the wine, the balance is such as to give it an almost approachable sensation. Beautiful rather than pretty, this is an elegant and refined wine that shows what could be achieved in 2011 with great terroir and a deft hand.

Floral and expressive, haunting aromatics with wonderful ripeness of fruit. Palate is very textured and fresh, and very saline. Impressive density and length on the finish. This is wonderful.