(2024) The Sichel family are synonymous with Bordeaux, and especially with Margaux where they own various properties at classed growth and cru bourgeois level. The source of this declassified wine is not revealed, but the blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot is said to come from one of the appellations most famous addresses. Beautiful nose, touched by violet and black cherry, but more about cedar and plush blackcurrant. The palate has a silky texture, the fruit supple and composed, but filling the mouth. Tannins are quite powerful and spicy here, as is the plum-skin edge of acidity, suggesting this should cellar for a few years too.
(2024) A well-regarded Cru Bourgeois located between St Julien and Margaux, Beaumont's 2016 is more or less equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with 9% Petit Verdot. Youthful in appearance, notes of blackcurrant, plum, game and cedar are classically framed, spice and tapenade/herbal notes too. In the mouth the fruit is surprisngly ripe, sweet and fleshy, rippling blackcurrant moving into a spicy finish with a bit of dark cocoa and a pert cherry skin bite to the acidity. Watch my video review for more information.
(2024) Made by Château Clinet of Pomerol, but from Right Bank vineyards outside of the appellation, this Merlot-based wine is another I've enjoyed in various vintages. There's a smooth and plush plum and chocolate character on the nose, dark and touched by espresso. It's all about swirling darkness really, but there are delightful little perfumed violet hints. On the palate the creamy, suave depth of the black fruit cashes the cheque promised by the nose: crushed black berries, a meaty and charry edge but well into the background, and a lovely support from the quite richly-framed tannins and acidity. Well-priced. Watch the video for more information.
(2023) An organic Cabernet Franc from Sainte-Foy-Bordeaux on the eastern edge of the Bordeaux region, it spent six months in older oak barrels. The surprisingly light 12% abv helps give elegance to the nose, with a buoyant fruit character and delicate florals, a little Beaujolais-like for me. In the mouth it is smooth and medium bodied, quite silky really and pleasingly easy to drink. Tannins are sweet and supple, acid is pert but gentle, and the wine drinks very nicely. £17.99 as part of a mixed dozen.
(2022) A 50/50 blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon for this Cru Bourgeois. I tasted the 2010 just last year (91-points) and though this has some time to go, it already appears to be an even better effort. There's an absolutely classic fragrance of cedar and pencil-shavings over savoury black fruits, touched with leafiness, game and subtle spices. In the mouth it is medium-bodied and beautifully pitched between that savoury, complex character of tobacco and leather, and a fresher fruit quality. Keen acidity gives excellent balance. Classic all the way, and surely has years of further cellaring potential.
(2022) A mature Bordeaux that is 58% cabernet sauvignon, 35% merlot, 5% petit verdot, 2% cabernet franc given 12 months in oak barrels, 33% new. Proper claret nose, with a little blood and game, black fruit and a hint of cedar. In the mouth there's an obvious ripeness and sweetness to the mid-palate fruit that is reasonably fleshy and creamy. Spicy, tight tannins and acidity do assert in the finish, but this drinks well.
(2022) From the Cadillac region of Entre-Deux-Mers, this 2016 is majority Merlot. It is worthy of note that Patrick Leon (ex-technical director of Mouton-Rothschild 1984-2004) was consultant here from the family’s first vintage in 2007 and, apparently, he twice tried to buy the property. It is a plush and svelte Bordeaux, with a graphite edge to plum and blackcurrant on the nose. There's a cool sense of elegance and controlled power on the palate: the fruit remains plush and deep, but it is so savoury, the tight, fine-grained tannins and keen edge of juicy acidity giving precision. The edges are barely blurred by softening coffee-ish oak, as crisp acids and bittersweet fruit lingers on the finish. £250 per dozen, in-bond. Approximate per-bottle price quoted.
(2022) Esprit de Pavie is a Bordeaux AOC wine that blends 65% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon coming from both the famous Château Pavie in Saint-Emilion, and nearby Château Clos L'Église in the Côtes de Castillon, which was purchased by Pavie's owner, Gerard Perse. There's an herbal twang to the fragrance, cedary and tobacco-like too, then a firm cherry and Asian plum fruit comes through. That firmness continues on the palate, a stripe if liquorice underpinning the black fruit, the wine finishing on food-friendly acidity.
(2022) From a very good vintage in Bordeaux and with a handy 12 years already under its belt, this is a Merlot-dominated red. I was initially surprised to find it closed with a modern DIAM technical cork, but that is explained. The colour shows a little development but is still solid at the core. There's a hint of tinned plum tomato on the nose that gives a savoury character, a little spice too. In the mouth that spiciness of red and black fruit continues, not a lot of barrel component showing, but firm tannins are resolving nicely and the overall balance is good.
