This 2005 is really coming into its own, with soft, welcoming rose bud, chalk, bilberry, cocoa bean and tobacco. The tannins remain well structured, and you can see the muscles that kept this pretty closed for the first...

A classy, balanced and sumptuous du Tertre, a ton of appellation and vintage signature. Lace-like tannins, overperforms the estate at the time, showing just how much quality and value is out there for this vintage...

The 2018 Prieure-Lichine has a deep garnet purple color. It opens with notes of stewed plums and crème de cassis, laced with cedar and Indian spices, leading to notes of sassafras and chargrill. Medium to full-bodied, the...

The 2020 Beychevelle has an open-knit, very well-defined bouquet with pure black cherries, bilberry, veins of blueberry and crushed violet. There's just a touch of new oak still waiting to be assimilated. The palate is...

The 2020 L'Hêtre has a more restrained and nuanced bouquet that unfolds in the glass, with more mineralité and terroir expression than the preceding d'Aiguilhe. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiseled tannins and...

The second wine of Château Pichon-Longueville is soft, perfumed and delicious. It's a wine with plenty of juicy fruit, though at this stage the wood is too dominant. The finish shows a hint of spice. ROGER VOSS

(JD 92-94 points) The 2023 Château Bellefont-Belcier is beautiful, with a more focused, elegant, mineral-laced style. Black raspberries, chalky minerality, and spring flowers are just some of its nuances, and it's...

(JD 93-95 points) Located just across from Château Beychevelle, the 2023 Château Branaire-Ducru reveals a dense ruby/purple hue as well as absolute classic notes of red and blue fruits, spring flowers, sappy, and...

The 2023 Brane-Cantenac was born the year that Lucien Lurton, who oversaw 34 vintages, passed away. There is a touch of reduction on the nose that soon dissipates, revealing quite detailed blackberry, bay leaf and crushed...

(JD 95-98 points) The 2023 Château Calon Ségur is absolutely brilliant and clearly in the top handful of wines in the vintage. Based on 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, it has...

This is a blend of 50% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, matured in barrels using just 40% new oak, and in vats, for 15 months. Some smoky oak in the aromatic profile here, with a fruit profile that...

The 2012 Latour…wine of the vintage? It has to be a serious contender. In this blind taste-off between the five First Growths, its quality shines through. With exceptional delineation on the nose, it just oozes class with...

(96+ points) A blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot, the 2019 Saint-Pierre is deep garnet-purple in color. It gallops out with notes of warm cassis, plum preserves, and candied violets, leading to suggestions...

(JD 96-98 points) The Grand Vin 2023 Château Cheval Blanc is based on 52% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon and, as always, is resting in 100% new French oak. It's deep ruby/plum-hued and offers a...

(JD 95-97 points) The Grand Vin 2023 Château Cos D'Estournel checks in as 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, and a splash of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, resting in 50% new French oak. This beauty brings everything...

(92-94 points) Including slightly more Cabernet Sauvignon than usual, the 2023 Château D'Armailhac is based on 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, aging in 50% new oak. It's...

(JD 95-97 points) As to the Grand Vin, the 2023 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou brings everything up a level, offering a gorgeous perfume of crème de cassis, spring flowers, graphite, and crushed stone. This gives way to a...

The 2022 from Alexander van Beek and the team at Giscours is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 3% each Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. I find a real sense of fragrant harmony but also bright energy here...

(JD 93-95 points) The Grand Vin 2023 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste checks in as 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Merlot (the 11th to the 28th of September) with the élevage in 75% new French oak. Its deeper plum hue is...

(JD 95-97 points) The 2023 Château Haut-Bailly is 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, and 4% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, aging in 50% new French oak. It has an incredible sense of purity and elegance, with...

Deep garnet-brick in color, the 2014 La Mission Haut-Brion needs a swirl or two to unlock notes of blackberry pie, creme de cassis, and espresso plus nuances of truffle, tapenade, and fragrant soil. The medium to...

Such gorgeous fruit, with extremely polished tannins and a persistent finish. The new oak comes out at the finish, but it should melt together with age. A joy to taste now but better in 2016.

Deep rich plum in colour, spiced cumin, loganberry, blood orange, cranberry and white pepper, there is the austerity here which was true even during En Primeur, now elongating into finesse and consistency of delivery...

The 2015 Lafite-Rothschild is slightly higher in tone than the Mouton-Rothschild on the nose, with scents of blackberry, iodine, cedar and crushed violet emerging with time in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied and...

(92-94 points) Blackberries, black cherries, spice, and tobacco leaves with a touch of spice fill the nose. On the palate, the wine is vibrant, soft, and polished with ripe, brisk tannins, and a chewy, fresh, peppery...

This is stylish, with perfumy black tea and smoldering charcoal aromas followed by lightly mulled plum, fig and blackberry fruit. An echo of juniper shows on the mineral-edged finish. Drink now through 2024. — JM