I love the purity and freshness in the 2019 Château Clos De Boüard, which offers textbook Merlot notes of black cherries, black raspberries, cedarwood, and dried herbs. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it shows the style of the vintage nicely, has a great mid-palate, ripe tannins, and outstanding length. It's well worth seeking out and will evolve for 10-15 years, if not longer.

Espresso, smoke, black cherry, dark chocolate and a background note of coconut come alive in the nose. On the palate the wine is lush, round, polished and supple, leaving you with loads of coffee bean, dark cocoa, smoke, licorice, plums and cherries on the mid-palate and in the finish. Drink from 2022-2036.

The 2019 Clos de Boüard has a more tempered nose compared to the showing from barrel, delivering copious yet controlled black cherry and blueberry scents, and turning quite floral with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, fine acidity, a smooth texture and a satisfying, quite persistent, graphite-tinged finish. This has matured well in barrel and after several years, it should be a fine Lalande de Pomerol. -- Neal Martin