French Bordeaux Red Blend

Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Blason d'Issan features cassis, plums and earth on the nose with an undercurrent of bay leaves and tobacco. The palate is medium to full-bodied, firm and grainy with good concentration... Read More

This is really nicely done with plenty of blackberries, dark chocolate and toasted oak. Medium to full body. Needs to come together. A blend of 68% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot and 2% cabernet franc. Second wine of Château... Read More

The dominant Merlot grape gives this wine bright red fruits and a brilliant ruby color. Hints of chocolate, earth, menthol are harmoniously combined with dark cherry, cassis, and pepper notes. The medium-bodied wine always gives... Read More

Owned by the Aubert family, this estate has produced a well-balanced wine. Tannins and spice lie easily with the berry fruits and final touches of dark chocolate. It will age well. Drink from 2023.

The 2019 du Retout is inky purple in colour. The bouquet is clean and pure with blackberry tinged with graphite and black truffle, all nicely delineated and growing in intensity. The palate is medium-bodied with quite sharp tannins,... Read More

So much purity and definition, this is a beautiful wine with clarity of flavour. Touches of grilled almond and rosemary, mocha, smoke and coffee bean, there is so much freshness, with juice rushing in between the muscles and a... Read More

A fresh and juicy wine with a smoky edge, this is full of acidity and spice. Bright berry fruits are succulent and young, with acidity and freshness just beginning to calm down.

This is almost pure Cabernet Sauvignon, as befits a wine from this prestigious appellation. It is driven by black-currant flavors and firm tannins that support the sophisticated fruits in a wine that will age well. Drink from... Read More

Juicy and compact now, with dark currant, blackberry and fig notes at the core, surrounded by lots of warm earth, singed alder and tobacco leaf notes. Cast iron note helps extend the finish, with the fruit and earth notes keeping... Read More

This is well built and powerful, not exactly subtle, but then none of these wines are. Instead you get complex, layered and concentrated inky fruits, with some aniseed too. The balance and elegance of St-Julien comes in through... Read More

Aromas of ripe plums and dark berries with hints of cloves, cardamom and toasted walnuts. Medium-bodied with chalky tannins that are a little grippy, but still quite velvety and polished. Juicy finish.

This wine offers rich tannins and dense black fruits in equal proportions. The structure, with the dry core, shows great promise and the wine is definitely worth aging. Drink from 2024.

The nose is both direct and exotic with Asian spices, then an almost Mediterranean richness of flavour and La Lagune's seductively smooth texture. An exciting wine; a real classic.

Currant, lead pencil and fresh rose-petal aromas follow through to a full body, round and nicely chewy tannins and a long finish. Balanced and polished. Drink in 2022.

This 430-acre estate has produced an elegant, fruity wine. The wine comes from vines on the edge of the Pauillac appellation, with deep gravel soil that gives structure to the approachable black fruits. Drink from 2025.... Read More

The nose is open and very expressive. On swirling the glass, the wine’s rich aromas come through with ripe black fruits taking centre-stage. Discreet notes of oak integrate harmoniously in an explosion of fruit aromas. The... Read More

82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot

Château Lilian Ladouys 2019, a vintage that is fresh yet sumptuous. The tannins are velvety, the balance exceptional: here is a wine similar in some ways to 2016 or 2018, yet even fresher and more aromatic.