(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.
(2023) This wine is the precise colour of Rowan Atkinson’s McLaren F1. At first a trace of smoke on the nose, but swirl and swirl and this goes. Just the densest sense of pure violets, coiled power on the nose. Huge. And it’s all underpinned by a slab of pure blackcurrant fruit. Very long on the palate, fine tannins. This is up there with the very best I think. (JH). Tasted en primeur so score is provisional.
(2023) The nose jumps out of the glass, offering ripe black griotte cherry, violets – isn’t this property always the most exotic and black-fruited of its peers? In the mouth, very nice entry and lovely texture. Very fine tannins and acidity keeping it fresh and balanced on the long finish. This is a really fine La Conseillante. (JH). Tasted en primeur so score is provisional.
(2023) There’s a very pure, restrained sense of compact power on the nose. This is so much more refined than most of the samples we’ve tried this campaign. Lighter bodied in the mouth than I expected. This is so harmonious; silken. It almost feels like you could drink it now. This is a wine that whispers rather than shouts – reminds me of the 1985 in that respect. (JH). Tasted en primeur so score is provisional.
(2023) 54% CS, 42% M, 4% PV. 14% alcohol. Very dark purple/black. There is a huge nose straight away with massive aromatics. It’s so floral! All the winemakers talk about freshness (boringly, as they all do it and it’s considered an unconditional positive) but this really is like wandering into a meadow packed with flowers. Remarkable! This is lighter in the mouth than I was expecting, with lovely tannins, good length. This is a really elegant Beychevelle with so much charm. This wine makes me smile. (JH). Tasted en primeur so score is provisional.
(2023) Inky purple-black. A fully stacked nose of iris petals, violets and blue-black fruit. Massive but not forced. This shimmers in the glass. Really fine. So harmonious it’s like a perfectly tuned acoustic guitar – it sings, both in the nose and the mouth (in my memory, typing this later, I hear it!). Nothing out of place. Really exciting to think about what this will become. (JH). Tasted en primeur so score is provisional.
(2023) 13.6% alcohol, 14% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 83% Cabernet Sauvignon. There’s a hint of wood on the nose at first, but this goes and it’s then so pure. Loaded with ripe fruit, like the LLC, and it feels like it’s punching at a similar level. Not a hair out of place and impressively low alcohol. (JH). Tasted en primeur so score is provisional.
(2023) 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot. There’s a freshness to the classically Pauillac nose – almost schisty with a hint of wet stone. In the mouth, there are layers and layers of flavour. A sense of compact elegance. Very correct. This has something special – balance and harmony. An honest wine in a special vintage. (JH). Tasted en primeur so score is provisional.
(2023) The nose reaches up out of the glass and grabs your senses – absolutely gorgeous, there’s no other word for it. A clear step up from its stablemates. Pure blackcurrant dusted with a sense of blue fruits, and that Mouton spice. So exotic. Tons going on… if Leoville Barton is a string quartet, this is a closer to Led Zeppelin. Tasted en primeur so score is provisional. (JH)    
(2023) Inky purple-black with a pure magenta rim. Fantastically polished texture and mouthfeel. At 13.6% alcohol this is apparently the highest ever at Lafite, but the wine doesn’t taste hot. Incredible finish. This will be a superb Lafite which will outlive me certainly. Tasted en primeur so score is provisional. (JH)