A Cappella
(Saint-Émilion; 100% Merlot; 14% ABV; from a 5 hectare plot adjacent to Canon-La-Gaffelière). This is the first time I've tasted this and I'm very pleased to make its acquaintance! If it's always as good as this I look forward to meeting it again. This is very dark and intense in its fruit profile, very pure and very lifted. The terroir signature is strong and the tannins really wrestle the fruit to the spine, the acidity is striking (the pH presumably very low) to the point at which this becomes almost a little severe. But I rather like that. 91-93
Arômes de Pavie
(Saint-Émilion; 50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Franc, a final yield of 18 hl/ha; pH 3.50; 14.25% ABV). Pretty. This is all about the freshness of the designated limestone plots from which it comes and the crunchiness of the principally berry fruits from which it is composed. Silky, nicely layered and hyper-fresh with a little red berry fruit working alongside the darker berries to convey additional freshness. The tannins penetrate between the layers and also outline the external parameters of this ample and impressively substantial wine. The Cabernet Franc is brilliantly expressive and contributes as much to the form of the wine as the Merlot (often it is the Merlot that forms the shape that the Cabernet brings interest to). A delicate florality emerges with aeration – peony, iris and a little rose petal – alongside the graphite and black cherry. Very impressive. 93-95+
Calicem
(Saint-Émilion; 100% Merlot; a final yield of 27 hl/ha; pH 3.70; 14% ABV; harvested in a single day, 15th September; the vineyard, 0.9 hectare, was planted in 1961 and is situated at the foot of the slope descending from Beauséjour, next to Angélus; Thomas Duclos is the consultant). Ample, rich and quite opulent, with lovely damson stone fruit, some red berry fruits – loganberry and raspberry – and a little blueberry. This is brilliantly succulent, juicy and sapid, and there's a lovely upswell of freshness from below that almost has to break through the rich, deep, dark, compact cashmere layers above like magma as it nears the surface. When it gets there it's explosive. And then we get the calm – a gentle long taper towards the finish. A dramatic wine. 94-96
Carillon d'Angélus
(Saint-Émilion; 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 35 hl/ha; pH 3.55; 13.5% ABV; tasted at the property with Stephanie de Boüard-Rivoal and Benjamin Laforêt). Darker and much more intense in its berry fruit profile after No.3. Loganberry, mulberry, blackberry and a little cassis; blueberry, with aeration. Graphite and cedar, with more of the latter in the mid-palate. This is beautifully composed, more ample than No.3, with silken layers aerated by the pixelating and vertically ascendent tannins bringing that gentle, powdery, chalky touch to the finish. Fabulous. 93-95
Chapelle de Croix de Labrie
(Saint-Émilion; 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 25 hl/ha; pH 3.55; 13.5% ABV; tasted at Croix de Labrie with Pierre Courdurié). Not really a second wine as almost 90% is sourced now from a separate single-vineyard. Lovely, ample and generous black cherry and bramble, all crunchy and fresh. Liquorice and with a mineral salinity too. This is radiant, bright, crystalline and luminous, sapid and juicy. It's also long and gently pulsating on the finish, resolving itself into little ripples of alternating grip from the tannins and juiciness from the fruit released by their pinch. 92-94
Château Angélus
(Saint-Émilion; 50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 30 hl/ha; pH 3.50; 14% ABV; tasted at the property with Stephanie de Boüard-Rivoal and Benjamin Laforêt). It's the salinity here and the rocky minerality that I hone in on first. Then the Cabernet Franc starts to build, rising up through the space afforded to it by the Merlot frame. This is mirrored on the palate. I love this in the mouth, with that vivid and dynamic cedar-enrobed Bouchet (with its notes of blueberry, cassis and a lovely slightly green herbal element) swirling up through the Merlot. So juicy, so lithe, so plump and so plush in its crunchy fruit personality, the details picked out by the pixelating limestone tannins. This is almost pointilist in its extremely articulate expression of great terroir. Very dynamic and energising! Superb. A truly great vintage of Angélus. 97-99
Château Ausone
(Saint-Émilion; 65% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 29 hl/ha; pH 3.50; 13.7% ABV; tasted, of course, at Ausone with various members of the family). There's no Chapelle d'Ausone this year. This is utterly devine, though it takes a little moment to let you in – you need to come to it at first. Subtly floral, but not so much the demonstrative blooms of violet as the subtler notes of rose petal, rose water perhaps and fresh field spring flowers. In fact, as it builds and breathes, we do find more iris and violet but these are not the first floral shades to reveal themselves. Black cherry, but again subtly, wild blueberry and mulberry. A little touch of soft leather and graphite. This is staggeringly beautiful – hauntingly so – on the entry (attack would be too agreessive a word). It's incredibly soft, succulent, seductive in its way, but never opulent or ostentatious, just divinely beautiful, poised, harmonious and supremely elegant. Ausone is perhaps the most essentially harmonious wine of the vintage. It signs off with an incredible taper on the finish, leaving just a gentle touch of limestone tannin and grapeskin. 98-100
Château Badette
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of an impressive 45 hl/ha; 14.5% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). I've liked this in recent vintages and I like it again here. We have a bright and vivid, predominantly red berry fruit, a little frangipane, a dusting of sweet spices (but just a dusting) and plenty of freshly cracked black peppercorns. In the mouth this is softly textured and beguiling but it retains the freshness and precision of the aromatics. Very pure and with great finesse. 92-94
Château Balestard La Tonnelle
(Saint-Émilion; 61% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 25 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault and at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). Pure, quite precise and lifted aromatically, with cassis and bramble notes, a little hint of oak smoke and a pleasing sprig or two of thyme, maybe a little walnut shell too. I find it a little more ferrous in its minerality when retasted at the UGCB press tasting. This is juicy and sapid in the mid-palate and that renders this less strict, less linear, and more dynamic than many of its peers. There's good work going on here and this is another success from an up-and-coming St-Emilion. 91-93
Château Beau-Séjour Bécot
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 32 hl/ha; pH 3.40; 13.5% ABV; Thomas Duclos is the consultant here). Gorgeous. A little closed aromatically at first, rendering this intimate in personality. It draws you in, however, but you have to come to it. It really rewards that. Floral, with delicate lilac and peony blossoms that are easier to find by virtue of that initial slight closure. Cedar and black cherry, a little blueberry, and graphite flooding through with aeration. A touch of rose water too. Brilliantly fresh and a wine that really signals the absence of excessive stress on this wonderful limestone plateau terroir. Exuberant in the mouth, with bright and crunchy fruit, refreshing and joyous. This is ample in frame and gently structured by the lovely powdery chalky tannins that are another signature of the terroir. Cool at the core with an almost mirror-pool clarity. Hyper-crystalline and luminous, but also vivid and vibrant, almost vibrating on the finish. The Merlot sets the frame for the Cabernet Franc to dance, to swirl bringing all its freshness. Accessible, yes, but with colossal aging potential. 96-98+
Château Beauséjour
(Saint-Émilion; 69% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 39 hl/ha; pH 3.39; 13.5% ABV; tasted with Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse and Tokaji, of course, at Beauséjour). We've left the best until last. To my, of course, highly subjective taste, this is all and more than I could ever wish for from a St Emilion on limestone in any vintage. It's brilliant. It's floral, first and foremost, with peony, rose petal, violet and a little haunting iris note that builds in the glass. We find loganberry, blueberry and black berry, a little thyme, maybe just the very slightest hint of rosemary. Graphite, not cedar. Once again this is such an eloquent and articulate expression of its terroir, structured and chiselled – almost carved out of the rock – by its limestone-chalky, powdery tannins. That renders it perhaps the purest wine of the appellation in this vintage. Oyster shell notes seem to be released by the touch of the tannins. Sumptuous and so delicate on the attack. We taste this next to the new winemaking facility and I am struck by the thought that this could only have been made here, such is its precision. Shimmering, radiant and exuberant. A magical wine and the best way to end our primeur journey. A technical note: one of the things that is so crucial to the quality of this wine is the incredibly precise work between Axel Marchal and Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse in the matching of the separately vinified parcels to the wood. 98-100
Château Bélair-Monange
(Saint-Émilion; 98% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 26 hl/ha; 13.5% ABV; tasted at Bélair Monange). It's difficult to follow Trotanoy, but that is its place in the Moueix line-up. It does so effortlessly and the contrast between the two is fascinating. This is a little more berry-oriented in its fruit profile, a lot more vertical in the presentation of the fruit, with the divinely-soft and pixelating limestone-chalky tannins shaping this effortlessly and pulling the fruit back to the spine to render this very linear, if never strict (such is the finesse of those tannins). This is more precise and focussed still and equally elegant. We have a little more rose petal florality and less of the Pomerol violets, of course; but it is, as ever, one of the most floral of the St-Émilion stars. It too is divine and it is, yet again, another candidate for the leading wine in the appellation. 97-99
Château Bellefont Belcier
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 33 hl/ha; pH 3.48; 14% ABV; tasted a number of times including at the property with Emmanuelle Fulchi, with consistent notes). Really beautiful aromatically, with a most radiant, lifted and aerial damson and dark berry fruit, generously enrobed with notes of graphite, cedar and a delicate wild herbality that shades into florality. This is very accomplished, very complete and very elegant too – one of those wines with a shimmering, beguiling and almost haunting beauty. When retasted at the property it's slightly more 'solaire' than Larcis next door, but both properties are producing their best ever wines. Truly excellent. 95-97+
Château Bellevue
(Saint-Émilion; 100% Merlot; pH 3.47; 14% ABV; tasted twice). Not exactly stern, but broad, bold and a little unyielding. It's less shapely than many of its peers and, once again, I find myself understanding a little why, over the years, there have been a variety of attempts to incorporate Cabernet Franc into this (it turns out that the terroir is not really conducive). Full, ample, plush, and cooler and fresher on the palate than one expects from the aromatics, pleasingly so. Dark berries and already a touch of liquorice (which gives a hint as to how this will evolve). A tad monotone, perhaps, but I like the freshness. 90-92
Château Berliquet
(Saint-Émilion; 61% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 42 hl/ha; pH 3.44; 14% ABV; tasted a number of times, the last time, of course, at Canon itself with Nicolas Audebert). I love the purity of the cassis and blueberry aromatics, and that trace of violet with a little peony that I recognise as the signature of this glorious terroir – plateau and côteau together. There are freshly crushed peppercorns – both rose and green – with the natural freshness and aromatic interest that implies. A staggeringly beautiful wine, ample and intensely succulent, with perhaps less layering and density than Canon but the same quality of tannin management, and the same precision, finesse and sheer sensitivity to terroir. I love the little note of clove that reinforces the delicate florality in a way. As ever, something of a coup de coeur for me. Definitely the best ever from here, with both density and energy, and a delightful signature of powdery limestone tannin. 96-98
Château Cadet Bon
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc; 14% ABV; certified organic; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Sweetly scented. Bright. Crunchy. White pepper, dark berry fruits, cassis. Plump and plush with a nice sense of grip and shape, even a little fantail. Freshness where it needs it. A nice success. 90-92
Château Canon
(Saint-Émilion; 76% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 40 hl/ha; pH 3.5; 14% ABV; tasted three times, the third at the property with Nicolas Audebert). Radiant in its lift and purity, this is very accessible, very expressive and beguilingly beautiful aromatically, with the cool composure of the sombre crypt of a grand cathedral. The most floral of Chanel line-up – pure peony with a little mimosa and even a hint of lily of the valley. Patchouli, a suggestion of incense. The fruit is a little redder-tinged than is often the case here (though actually less so when retasted at Canon), but the blueberry notes are much more present in the mouth and they come as an additional delight. This is another hauntingly beautiful wine. Texturally sublime, much like Rauzan-Ségla on the 'other side'. Supremely classy but never blowsy or demonstrative. Ethereal is the word. The culmination to-date of a project constructed over the last decade here. 97-99
Château Canon-La-Gaffelière
(Saint-Émilion; 40% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 35 hl/ha; 13% ABV; tasted at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin and at Canon-La-Gaffèliere with Stephan and Ludovic von Neipperg; certified organic). This is so gracious, so very Canon-La-Gaffelière, with a Cabernet Franc signature that is omnipresent and renders this so beautifully beguiling. But let's not restrict this to the aromatics. For what we have, just as crucially, is a sumptuous mouthfeel, quite an ample frame – above all on the attack – and a lovely pillowy, cashmere texture in the mouth. The majority of Cabernet fruit in the blend really makes this sing in 2025. This feels reassuringly indulgent, generous, opulent – but never blowsy – elegant and refined. We have both amplitude and crystallinity. There's a lovely luminous quality to this and it will, I am sure, age very gracefully. My favourite recent vintage of this. So measured and refined on the finish with brilliant clarity. 95-97
Château Cap de Mourlin
(Saint-Émilion; 76% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 32 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Dark in its fruit profile, with a combination of damson and bramble notes intermingling with wild thyme and a sprig of rosemary. This is pure and I rather like the cool menthol notes to be found in the depths of the mid-palate and again on the finish, which help render this fresh and vivid but without ever threatening to overwhelm its more svelte and seductive character. 91-93
Château Chauvin
(Saint-Émilion; 73% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 29 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted three times, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault and then also at Belgrave). Afrer some problems with the first sample, the second is reassuringly radiant in its freshness and energy, with a lovely 'al dente' red and darker berry fruit profile. Pure and actually remarkably plump, juicy in the mid-palate, if maybe just a little austere on the finish (less so when tasted a third time) – but I really don't mind that. There's great terroir transparency in this. 92-94
Château Cheval Blanc
(Saint-Émilion; 51% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Franc, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 15 hl/ha; pH 3.76; 12.7% ABV; tasted with Pierre-Olivier Clouet at Cheval Blanc). Cheval Blanc suffered the longest sustained period without rainfall in its history. The wine comes from the smallest ever grapes harvested here (c.1.1g per grape for the Merlot, 0.6g for the Cabernet Franc). 2kg of fruit were required for each litre of wine produced, around twice the norm. 46 of the 47 parcels were used in the grand vin after drastic measures to reduce the potential yields, above all on gravel. Despite all of that we have a wine of striking poise and staggering harmony. Black cherry, mulberry, blackberry, cassis, graphite and a touch of cedar. Peony blooms. Rose petals and rose blooms. Peppercorns freshly crushed. A wild heather note, thyme and a little rosemary. Classical, if subtle, cedar notes, with more graphite and pencil shavings on aeration. This is very dark and composed, cool – almost plungepool cool – at the core with that incredibly vivid and utterly beautiful violet florality that seems to radiate outwards from the centre of the wine. So complete, so harmonious, so elegant and so perfectly integrated. A wine of perfect harmony. The sublimation of Cheval Blanc and a reward for the investment in the vineyard. This is a wine of shimmering beauty today and of ageless potential for tomorrow. It is radiant and that radiance seems to flow from the Cabernet Franc core of the mid-palate, like the explosion of a firework of freshness captured in slow motion. 98-100
Château Corbin
(Saint-Émilion; a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the fiche technique does not reveal in what proportions; 13.5% ABV). Delicious. This is one of those St-Émilions that has a slight solar note, aromatically and on the palate too, but also a sensuous cool mouthfeel, and a certain depth and concentration over a tight and tense frame. Lots of twists of the peppermill. Accessible, almost a little fluffy in its lift and approachability, but don't be mistaken: there's deceptive depth, density and concentration here too. Nicely achieved. Very pretty and accessible already but with medium to long term aging potential. 92-94
Château Côte de Baleau
(Saint-Émilion; 95% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 36 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at Clos Fourtet). Lush, rich, deep and dark with lovely dark berry fruits very prominent alongside an essential and vibrant wild herbal note. There's a lovely touch of cedar too and a little incense. On the palate this is fleshy with chewy tannins, a nicely linear core and a well-sustained finish. Very attractive and accessible already. 90-92+
Château Coutet
(Saint-Émilion; a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc; 14% ABV; tasted from a sample provided by Adrien David Beaulieu, somewhat predictably without a fiche technique!). This is a wine that I rarely taste en primeur and something of a hidden jewel, as this shows so well. It's lifted and brilliantly fresh with that lively, energetic, almost radiant personality that is the best signature of the organic and biodynamic viticulture practised here. The dark, damson fruit is enrobed with fresh herbal elements, the tannins refined and this sits very comfortably and elegantly in the mid-palate. There's excellent potential value here. 90-92+
Château Croix de Labrie
(Saint-Émilion; 82% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 25 hl/ha; pH 3.40; 13.5% ABV: Julien Viaud is the consultant here now; tasted at Croix de Labrie with Pierre Courdurié). Walnut shell and black olive tapenade; lovely, crunchy, black cherry fruit with traces of blueberry, damson and blackcurrant. Assorted freshly crushed peppercorns. There's less Merlot in the final wine now with the new Cabernet Sauvignon, grafted onto old-vine Merlot at the foot of the Côte Pavie, present for the first time. The wine is incredibly ample in frame, with alternating layers of velvet and cashmere, great depth and impressive viscosity, density, concentration and compactness. Croix de Labrie is monumental but so succulent and juicy as to make this incredibly accessible already. There's blood orange freshess but also peony and iris florality. And that classy, reassuring, note of cedar. The quality of the tannin management is remarkable and the energy and dynamism that is the signature of the respect for the natural diversity of the vineyard is so eloquently expressed. Garagisme has grown up; serious and very classy winemaking expressing a unique terroir. 96-98
Château Dassault
(Saint-Émilion; 78% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; pH 3.66; 13.5% ABV; Thomas Duclos is the consultant here since the 2023 vintage and it now shows very clearly; tasted five times (almost a record) over three weeks with pretty consistent notes). On the 70th anniversary of the acquisition of the property by Marcel Dassault, the château that bears his name has made the finest wine I've ever tasted from here. It's fresh, cool and just a little closed at first, with the elements taking a while to reveal themselves and then to integrate. Black cherry, cassis, blueberry, a little walnut shell but also early season walnuts before the shell has hardened. A little incense, orange zest and blood orange, pomegranate too and a little redcurrant leaf. Delicate in a way, and all the more delightful for that, this is subtle and slightly introvert. Plump, plush, with both a lovely freshness and a lovely shape in the mouth. The tannins are beautifully fine-grained. There’s a beautiful harmony here and a rare purity. This expresses the vintage very well. 93-95+
Château de Candale
(Saint-Émilion; from a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc; 13.5% ABV). Another success in this vintage from the Decoster family, this is lush and plush, succulent and juicy with a bright, crunchy fruit profile, no discordant note in sight and a certain charm and immediate accessibility. It's not the most complex of wines, but that's not what it's there for and its likely price point is equally without pretention. 90-92+
Château de Ferrand
(Saint-Émilion; 71% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 32 hl/ha; pH 3.4; 14.5% ABV; certified organic; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). This expresses its excellent terroir so precisely and so vividly and is another grand cru classé Saint-Émilion in this vintage that you'd have a good chance of picking blind because of the way it's made and the respect for terroir which that in turn demonstrates. Intensely dark purple and black in its fruit profile, this is inky and yet it also reveals a lovely, rather delicate, florality. The tannins, though sculpting, are incredibly soft and impart a wondrously succulent quality to the mouthfeel. They outline the external parameters of the space the fruit inhabits as it glides over the palate. Long, as that suggests, and extremely elegant, svelte and harmonious. 93-95
Château de Fonbel
(Saint-Émilion; 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon; 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Carménère; a final yield of 45 hl/ha; pH 3.70; 13.65% ABV; tasted at Ausone with various members of the Vauthier family and the technical team in attendance). Brighter still than Simard and crunchier with it. The lovely dark berry fruits predominate, but there's a little cherry and raspberry too and that wild herbal note I so often find here. One of the freshest wines of the vintage, but with the acidity so well integrated over the length of the palate. Serious in a way, but accessible. I love the blueberries here. This will make old bones but is very easily approachable even now. Dark and cool at the core, slightly sombre but delightfully so. Excellent, as it so often is. 92-94
Château de Pressac
(Saint-Émilion; 71% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon; 1.5% Carménère, 2% Malbec, 1.5% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 22hl/ha; 14.5% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). This has been on a steep upward hike and that continues in 2025. This is more hedonistic than many and one does sense the presence of the oak, but it never dominates and it also serves to underscore the natural sweetness of the fruit. Generous, rich and deep with lots of substance and yet no loss of clarity or delineation. A triumph. Another 'best ever from here' candidate despite the slight dryness on the finish. 92-94
Château Destieux
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 25 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Beautifully situated just above de Ferrand. Plush and plump, juicy and with just enough freshness in the mid-palate to give a sense of lift and vitality. I like very much the menthol notes alongside the bright red and darker berries. It's perhaps a little monotone in comparison with some of its neighbours and lacks too the delineation over the palate of some of the very best, but there's a lot to like here. 90-92
Château Faugères
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 33hl/ha; pH 3.49; 14.28% ABV; tasted twice, first at Château de Sales and then at Faugères with skilled artist and equally skilled oenologue Vincent Cruege). An excellent vintage of Faugères and with all that Cabernet, all at perfect ripeness, a more relaxed and ample wine than the more essentially tense and taut Lafon La Tuilerie. I love them both equally, but I suspect this is a little more crowd-pleasing with its more sumptous and rich mid-palate. There's a great elegance and even a certain swagger to this, but there's also no denying the place and the terroir from which it hails. Great winemaking! A lovely minerality. Heart and soul limestone Saint-Émilion. 93-95
Château Figeac
(Saint-Émilion; 38% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 25 hl/ha; pH 3.64; 13% ABV; 90% grand vin, with very little lost on the sorting table; tasted at the property with Blandine de Brier Manoncourt). There was just a little green harvesting to reduce the size of the crop to allow perfect maturation of the fruit. This is profound, deep, lifted, dense, compact, rich and, above all, cool at the beautifully formed spherical core. Black cherry, blueberry and a little cassis and blackberry. I love the leather, cedar and graphite, all remarkably present already at this nascent stage. Lily of the valley. Iris. Blood orange. Walnut shell (from the pips, the ripest ever achieved here despite the early picking dates). There's just a little black pepper and a lovely natural mineral salinity. This takes a beautiful shape in the mouth, not especially ample, but what is not there in amplitude is more than compensated for in depth. This is incredibly layered, but unlike the other grands vins of the appellation, the layers are not of cashmere or velvet but rather of silk, interspersed by the penetration of the ultra-fined and refined tannins. It's like a cascade of layers, descending like a flowing staircase into the dark core below. Figeac is staggeringly beautiful for a wine so considerable in its structure. This is, for me, the most accessible truly great vintage of Figeac. The conveyance of the flavours from the grapes themselves into the final wine is very direct. If there are comparisons to be drawn, they are with the 2016 and perhaps the 2010 at this stage. 98-100
Château Fleur Cardinale
(Saint-Émilion; 77% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 40 hl/ha; 13.8% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at Château de Sales). This is utterly charming and rather beguiling too. It's a little more relaxed, richer and deeper in the mid-palate and more expansive too in frame than Croix Cardinale. The fruit profile too is different, with more red berry notes alongside the darker berries and damsons, but with the same wild herbal and heathery notes too. This sings very eloquently of its terroir and is a great success in the context of the vintage. A wine of eloquence, purity and precision. Fresh, juicy and essentially vibrant. 93-95
Château Fleur de Lisse
(Saint-Émilion; 58% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 21.3 hl/ha; 13.5% ABV; tasted in Bordeaux; from Vignobles Jade; the consultants here are Jean-Claude & Jean-François Berrouet; certified organic and biodynamic). Gosh, I simply love the purity of the aromatics – the Cabernet Franc just sings with that intense florality, that lovely green almost Szechuan peppercorn note, and that brilliant combination of blackcurrant and blueberry wrapped in cedar! I'm in raptures even before I have this in my mouth. And on the palate this is, again, so focussed, precise and crystalline in its elegant, luminous purity. Radiant, lifted and quite ethereal this is a wine for drinking young before any of that fruit brightness and crunchiness fades. 93-95
Château Fombrauge
(Saint-Émilion; 94% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 32hl/ha; pH 3.5; 14.5% ABV; tasted at Pape-Clément with the new Magrez teeam; Julien Viaud is the consultant here and he's been earning his fee!). Blueberry, bramble, black raspberry and loganberry, each very pixelated and pure in its detail – one sees the berries close up. There's less oak and more precision than ever. Ample and with greater volume and clarity than, say, La Tour Carnet. Quite lifted, quite elegant and glossy for Fombrauge with plenty of lift on the finish. Dynamic. Vivid. This expresses the vintage very well. Lovely chalky tannins on the finish. The best I've tasted from Fombrauge. 92-94
Château Fonplègade
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon; 13.5% ABV; tasted twice, the first time in Paris very early on, the second time at Château de Sales). A consistent performer at a very high level and hailing from top terroir, next to Quintus, there's no surprise that this is so good. Crunchy, bright, vivid, aerial, plush and lithe. This is pleasingly tender and refined with lovely purity. Cherry and plum, but dark cherry and damson. Bramble too. Like many there's a natural sweetness to the fruit. Engaging, with the grip and gentle touch of the tannins shaping the long, fluid finish. 92-94+
Château Fonroque
(Saint-Émilion; 76% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 36 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Habitually excellent now as this vintage shows again so well. This is radiant in its luminous purity, with a very precise and actually quite distinct, primarily red-berried fruit profile. With aeration in the mouth, the fruit darkens a little as the cassis and bramble recharge the palate and the frame broadens with it as if to make place for a vital component. All of that renders this very vivid, vibrant and dynamic. The best I've ever tasted from here continuing and perhaps accelerating the steep upward ascent of recent vintages. 93-95+
Château Franc La Rose
(Saint-Émilion; 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 40 hl/ha; pH 3.4; 13.5% ABV; tasted just the once in Bordeaux). The winemaking style here is to extract every ounce of pleasure from the terroir and that's interesting here because this still feels a little austere and stern. In a way that creates a kind of natural tension, which works quite well and certainly reflects the clay-limestone plateau terroir from which this hails. We have bright, crisp and crunchy red berry fruit, shading towards redcurrant as the wine becomes more sculpted and chiselled towards the finish. As that suggests, at 13.5% ABV and presumably quite a low pH comparatively speaking (indeed, yes, as the fiche technique confirms), this is searingly fresh. I like that but it might not be the easiest pick as coming from this vintage. 90-92
Château Franc Mayne
(Saint-Émilion; 100% Merlot; 14% ABV; certified organic; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Supremely elegant and supremely floral, this is a real delight aromatically and has that crypt-like air of calm tranquility combined with a certain haunting beauty that is one of the signatures for me of this vintage, above all on terroirs like this. The florality is bulby – peonies and irises – and it intermingles delightfully with the dark berry fruits and black cherry. Plump and velvety in texture, this is another excellent vintage of this reliably exciting wine. 93-95
Château Grand Barrail Larmazelle Figeac
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc; 13.5% ABV). Very pure in its red berry fruit profile, with loganberry and a little raspberry the first to emerge; aeration brings darker berry notes and a litlte cherry too. This is crisp, bright and crunchy, and will make for a pleasingly vibrant and refreshing Saint-Émilion for relatively early drinking but with some aging potential too. Nicely managed. 90-92
Château Grand Corbin
(Saint-Émilion; 83% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon; 13.5% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault).This too has been transformed in recent vintages. Once again, a beautiful and rather distinct fruit profile: sloes and damsons intermingle with blueberry notes from the very expressive Cabernet Franc. There's a lovely hint of cedar and a little wild rosemary. I love this and it's another Saint-Émilion that, for me at least, has produced its best ever wine. The texture and the technical prowess it showcases are exceptional. Bravo to Laure Canu and Axel Marchal. 93-95+
Château Grand Corbin-Despagne
(Saint-Émilion; 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 22hl/ha; pH 3.68; 13.5% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Very true to its identity of recent years, this is very dark fruited – a generous blend of black cherry and bramble, a little mulberry and blueberry perhaps too. There's a trace of graphite, as ever here, and that lovely walnut shell note somehow underscored by the fine-grained yet beady, textural and tactile tannins. They pixelate the fruit towards the long and gently tapering finish. Generous, relaxed and quite ethereal too for a wine that often impresses more for its heft and depth. 93-95
Château Grand Mayne
(Saint-Émilion; 62% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 36 hl/ha; 13.5% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). There's more finesse here than in the the last two vintages I find, with the extraction dialled back a notch, to good effect I think. This is plump and plush, the fruit perfectly à point and rather crunchy, the tannins refined and ultra-fine-grained, if still a little invasive on the finish – though that's just a question of time. I like the greater clarity in the mid-palate which gives more space to the delicate floral components. In short, the direction of travel here impresses me even if one still has the sense of a work in progress. 91-93+
Château Haut Sarpe
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14.5% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Glossy, pure and focussed with the fruit drawn inwardly from the cheeks towards the denser spherical core. There's a pleasing natural sweetness to this and it's significantly more refined, the quality of the tannins at a very different level, to the wines at one point produced here. 92-94
Château Haut-Brisson
(Saint-Émilion; 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 26 hl/ha; pH 3.5; 14% ABV; tasted at the property with Emmanuelle Fulchi). Plump and plush, this is a wine never really flattered by being tasted at this stage, though much less so this year. It's very direct in its fruit delivery and fruit expression, with colossal 'reactive' tannins (as Emmanuelle puts it), but they are so well managed and this is much more crystalline than it used to be. There's an impressive sense of structure and considerable aging potential but this is accessible already. The colossus has perhaps been tamed? 91-93
Château Haut-Simard
(Saint-Émilion; 20% Merlot, 80% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 39 hl/ha; pH 3.70; 13.5% ABV; tasted at Ausone with various members of the Vauthier family). Gracious, so charming and poised with that wonderful Cabernet Franc so eloquent and expressive. Blueberries, violet, iris, cornflowers and cedar, with a little aromatic green and rose peppercorn, maybe green Szechuan peppercorn notes too with all their freshness. This is just brilliant in its fruit purity, with a very narrow chiselled frame accentuating the sense of intensity in the mouth. Sinuous and never strict despite the sculpting role of the chalky tannins. A brilliant expression of relatively young-vine Cabernet Franc on limestone. 93-95
Château Hyon La Fleur
(Saint-Émilion; 100% Merlot; a final yield of 38 hl/ha; 14% ABV). So true to its name in this vintage, and my favourite from those vintages that I have tasted from here. I love the wild florality and the clarity and precision of the basket of fruits present in the mid-palate. A study in purity and also in dynamism and energy. Vibrant, vivid and exciting. 92-94
Château Jean Faure
(Saint-Émilion; 65% Cabernet Franc, 33% Merlot, 2% Malbec; a final yield of 27 hl/ha; pH 3.65; 13.5% ABV; tasted at the property with Louis Gadais). Beautifully radiant in the clarity and elegance of its Cabernet Franc (though once shouldn't underesteimate the influence of the Malbec here aromatically), with lovely classical but delicate rose petal and violet notes gently enrobing the blueberry, cassis and black cherry fruit. That said, there is much more to come aromatically, as the palate demonstrates. We witness today just a suggestion of the full aromatic potential of this extraordinary wine. There's a little trace of graphite and a hint of walnut oil, maybe a little tapenade and pounded fresh green peppercorns. Super-svelte on the entry and cool to the core, but then comes the magical effect of the arrival of the Cabernet Franc which brings a wave of both freshness and floral-enrobed damson and blueberry fruit into the heart of the palate. The Malbec is important here and it underscores certain elements of the Cabernet Franc's profile, above all the spice and fresh peppercorn notes. There's lovely grip from the tannins, which are quite tactile and powdery – very much the signature of the vintage – and that shapes a beautiful fantail. Very stylish, elegant yet also very natural and harmonious. A profound and profoundly beautiful wine. 95-97+
Château L'Archange
(Saint-Émilion; 100% Merlot; 13.5% ABV). Crunchy and lifted, aromatically expressive and pure in its fruit signature, with a very moderated use of oak, this is a big and punchy wine that is highly structured by its chalky, crumbly tannins. It doesn't have the refinement of some, and is made in a style that will require a certain amount of bottle aging before it can be appreciated at its best, but there's a lot of terroir character here. It just needs time. 90-92
Château L'Etampe
(Saint-Émilion; 85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 32 hl/ha; 13.5% ABV; from Vignobles Jade; the consultants here are Jean-Claude & Jean-François Berrouet; certified organic and biodynamic). This is richer, plumper and fuller on the palate than Fleur de Lisse, the Cabernet Franc less essentially the star of the show but still very important to the identity of the wine. But this is much more a Merlot wine energised by Cabernet Franc. Indeed, one almost has the impression that the Merlot sets the stage for, and defines, the parameters for the Cabernet Franc's dynamising performance. This, too, is very beautiful, though in a slightly more sombre, even haunting kind of a way. I love the coolness of the finish where I find almost a hint of incense. 92-94
Château La Clotte
(Saint-Émilion; 85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 32 hl/ha; pH 3.49; 13.45% ABV tasted at Ausone with various members of the Vauthier family). In the Vauthier line-up, this is more crystalline, more sparkling, more shimmering in the lifted, bright clarity of its dark berry fruits than all but Ausone itself. It's gorgeously plump on the attack, cool at the core and very expressive of the vintage. Blueberry, mulberry and black cherry, a hint of cedar. The narrow, intensely sculpted frame is further narrowed by the structuring effect of the chalky, powdery, limestone tannins. This can be quite solaire in some vintages, but it's beautifully cool-vintage in 2025 and I love it all the more for that. Fabulous. Super sapid on the finish. 95-97
Château La Commanderie
(Saint-Émilion; 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 45 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Succulent and juicy with a combination of dark berry and stone fruits generously enrobed in pepper, a little pinch of sweet spice and graphite. There's a certain density and intensity to the mid-palate but, as with a number of wines in this vintage, there's less viscosity in the mid-palate than one would usually expect to find here. I don't mind that but it does render this a little more austere and that won't be to everyone's taste. 90-92
Château La Confession
(Saint-Émilion; 63% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Franc, 4% Malbec; a final yield of 29 hl/ha; pH 3.60; 13.75% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Appropriately ecclesiastical, with all that candlesmoke, incense and myrrh gently enrobing the dark berry and damson fruit! I love the hint of wild herbs – thyme, perhaps a little sage and rosemary – and the clarity of the mid-palate. The frame is quite narrow and the oak that used to dominate here but a distant memory. 92-94
Château La Couspaude
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 22hl/ha; pH 3.55; 14% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tastings at Dassault and de Pressac and then at Bellefont-Belcier). Smoky, rich and deep, this gives the impression of being a little more extracted than most of the wines in the Vignobles K line-up, but the tannins are fine-grained and beady. The overall effect is that this is wine of velour and cashmere rather than silk, more generous than many on the plateau, if not having quite the purity, levity and clarity of some of its neighbours. That might well be the future here, however, with the recent change in ownership and with the vineyard to be managed by the team from Vignobles K. Indeed, we're already in transition and that we can see already. The tannins are the finest I've experienced from here. This has clarity but perhaps not quite yet the delineation that I am sure it will acquire in time in its new incarnation. The terroir here is perhaps closest to that of Sansonnet and it will be fascinating to see how this project evolves. 91-93+
Château La Croizille
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 40 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Silky, glossy, polished in texture, this is a little closed at first, but that draws you in, and what one finds is very fine and elegant, quite lifted and aerial. The fruit is dark – a blend of sloe, cherry and blackberry – and there's a pleasing hint of graphite and black pepper. Perhaps not as complex as some, but very well managed nonetheless. 91-93
Château La Dominique
(Saint-Émilion; 85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 31 hl/ha; 13.5% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at Château de Sales). This is beautifully poised and exudes a sort of calm tranquility. The fruit is very pure and there's a lovely sense of detail, aided by the luminous clarity of the mid-palate. Everything is in harmony, everything is in elegance and everything is in finesse. A very refined and accomplished wine that is the product of great acumen and skill in both the vineyard and the chai. The purity of the fruit is exceptional. One of the finest offerings from La Dominique to date. 93-95+
Château La Fleur Morange
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc; 14% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Aromatically a little closed at first, but on the palate this tells a very different story. Black cherry, plums and brambles course through the veins of this wine in the mouth. There's plenty of energy and engagement, and this is very pure and authentic to its terroir. The tannins are, however, just a touch dry on the finish. 90-92+
Château La Gaffelière
(Saint-Émilion; 65% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 39 hl/ha; pH 3.41; 13.8% ABV; tasted four times, finally at the property with Alexandre de Malet Roquefort, with more and more cedar on each encounter). Gorgeous aromatically, with radiant iris and lily of the valley. Violet and patchouli with aeration. Pure, gracious and, in the mouth, the fruit is held very tightly to a well-defined central spine. Dense and compact, more so because of that, but at the same time light, lifted, delicate and aerial from the high proportion of expressive Cabernet Franc. There\'s great intensity for a wine so elegant and lithe. The tannins are reassuringly chewy, indicating the aging potential. A touch of walnut and cedar, too, hint at the path ahead. This is undemonstrative and the accent is on the delicacy of the tannic management, rendering this essentially elegant and classy. The secret to this is the sheer quality of the Cabernet Franc and its capacity to impart freshness all the length of the palate. There\'s great potential too. Clos La Gaffelière (80% Merlot; 20% Cabernet Franc). Tasted in the barrel cellar at La Gaffelière, but this is not made here and is from an entirely different property. Very pretty, elegant, refined, with lovely, dark berry fruit – blueberry and a little black cherry, and a touch of iris. Lovely, easy and accessible. Great value. (90-92). 95-97
Château La Grâce Dieu des Prieurs
(Saint-Émilion; a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc; 14% ABV; malolactic and aging entirely in new Radoux Super Fine Blend barrels; Louis Mitjavile is the consultant oenologist here). Wow, this is great and the oak signature that can dominate here (with the Radoux blend casks) is more a background note, underscoring and gently reinforcing but never dominating the more natural florality of the wine and the essential, vivid, bright and crunchy dark berry and cherry fruit profile it exhibits. As this opens, the cherries plump up – they almost seem to swell in the mouth – and that renders this crystalline and radiant in its vivid fruit clarity. Superb and probably the best vintage of this I\'ve ever tasted. 93-95
Château La Marzelle
(Saint-Émilion; 85% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of just 27 hl/ha; pH 3.62; 14% ABV; certified organic and biodynamic; tasted three times, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault and then again at Croix de Labrie). This is gorgeous and quite distinct aromatically, with incense and myrrh alongside the wild floral and herbal notes, all intermingling beautifully with the dark berry and damson fruit, naturally sweet, above all when tasted after Croix de Labrie. There's a hint of cedar to come. In the mouth this is plump and plush with cashmere tannins and a beautifullly luminous mid-palate. Quite simply the best wine I have tasted from here, certainly on a par with the 2022. Liquorice. Truly delicious already and exuding harmony, elegance and finesse. Chewy on the finish. 93-95+
Château La Mondotte
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 26 hl/ha; 13.5% ABV; tasted at Canon-La-Gaffelière with Stephan and Ludovic von Neipperg; certified organic). The 30th vintage and perhaps the best. We're back to the limestone here after our detour via Canon-La-Gaffelière. A sublime wine, as you know at this point in the tasting it's going to be. Cashmere replaces the silk of its sibling Saint-Émilions and you sense that immediatley from the aromatics. Black raspberry, blueberry (from the elevated Cabernet Franc presence in the final blend) and the black cherries we know and love from La Mondotte. This is sumptuous, monumental, dark in its black cherry and purple berry fruit profile, and rich and soft in the mouth, with an extraordinary mouthfeel. Succulent, but it's a different and more opulent form of succulence: richer, deeper, and more obvious in its layering. Utterly divine. We're in 'best of ever' territory once again! A wine that would be haunting in its beauty were it not for the sheer dynamism that renders this so joyful. 96-98
Château La Serre
(Saint-Émilion; 73% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Franc; 13.5% ABV; Thomas Duclos is the consultant here; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault and then retasted at Bélair Monange). Beautiful, pure cassis with a little bramble and that wild, almost heather/herbal note, perhaps even a hint of iodine and oystershell. This is tight to the spine, but never aggressive or austere in the presentation of its tannins, and the overall impression is of a silky mouthfeel and great fruit purity. Perhaps not the complexity of some, but rather gorgeous in its eloquent authenticity nonetheless. The progression here is notable and this is a much more precise wine than it used to be. 92-94
Château La Tour Baladoz
(Saint-Émilion; 75% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot, 2% Malbec, 1% Carménère; a final yield of 45 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Tasted just after La Croizille, this is rather similar texturally, with a little more berry fruit in the blend imparting a little more vertical lift and a little more freshness. That said, the stonier fruit elements feel almost as if they lack the same freshness, and the integration between the two is not yet fully realised. I'll be keen to retaste this, but it's almost a little soapy in the mid-palate. 90-92
Château La Tour Figeac
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 28 hl/ha; 13.5% ABV). Tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault. Floral, undoubtedly and evidently, but in a very slightly caricatural way – a little like a soapbox perhaps, albeit a very prettily-scented one! Violet and black cherry. A little cedar. I like the quite ample frame and the clarity of the mid-palate. This is nicely balanced and well-managed. 91-93
Château Lafon La Tuilerie
(Saint-Émilion; 100% Merlot; a final yield of 33 hl/ha; pH 3.43; 14% ABV; 7,500 bottles; tasted twice, first at Château de Sales and then at Faugères with skilled artist and equally skilled oenologue Vincent Cruège). From a tiny property of just 1.65 hectares. Another fabulous wine from Silvio Denz and his team, and very much a part of the trilogy of St-Émilion greats now being produced here each vintage. This is intensely peppery, with the freshest, brightest green and red Szechuan peppercorns mixed with long dark black peppercorns and pounded in a mortar (that, at least, is the impression given). The fruit is equally precise – perfectly ripe single blueberries and mulberries popping in the mouth. And then the sculpting effect of the limestone tannins takes over, stretching this out and sculpting it beautifully to a long and tapering finish. Lovely, powdery, chalky tannins. You know where are with this wine! The terroir signature is exceptionally strong; the force is with us! 92-94+
Château Laforge
(Saint-Émilion; 92% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.73; 13.5% ABV; tasted from samples sent to me in Bordeaux by Jonathan Maltus). True, as ever, to its now well-established identity and, indeed, to its name, with that quite distinct ferrous minerality evident aromatically as it enrobes the dark berry fruits. This is much more substantial as a wine than Teyssier but it retains the same sense of lift and energy. Sapid and juicy, this will be accessible almost immediately but has a certain aging potential, though the élevage will be important as it lacks at this stage some of its customary density. But I am confident this will turn out very well and may require an uplift when I retaste in bottle. 90-92
Château Laniote
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 32 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). One of the few St-Emilion Grand Cru Classé where the oak is quite obvious aromatically in this vintage. It masks a little the dark berry fruits. That said, I find this more luminous and a little more ample on the attack than in recent vintages But when the tannins engage I find them a little dry and abrasive and that renders this stern on the finish in comparison to many of its peers. 88-90
Château Larcis Ducasse
(Saint-Émilion; 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 40 hl/ha; pH 3.50; 14% ABV; tasted three times, including at Laroque with David Suire). Wow, wow and wow (for each of the times tasted!). This is incredibly beautiful and seems to capture a haunting, seductive charm that I have never before seen here, even from the 2024 vintage which starts to redefine what Larcis is in the process of becoming. The perfect expression of its white clay Côte Pavie terroir. Lilac and violet, rose petal and rose water, a hint of black tea leaf and gracious, plump and perfectly pixelated detailed berry fruits – as if painted by a micro-pointillist! A touch of cedar but, like the rest, so delicate and well-integrated. Sinuous and aerial at the same time: I'm in raptures. Certainly, for me, the best vintage ever from here. Shockingly good, if that's not too vulgar a thing to say about a wine so elegant and pure. 98-100
Château Larmande
(Saint-Émilion; 83% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon; 13.5% ABV; tasted at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). This comes straight after Larcis Ducasse at the UGCB press tasting and that's a tough act to follow, but it does an excellent job. Pure, lifted, aerial, floral and with a lovely natural sweetness to the fruit that will bring lots of immediate pleasure. Gracious and smiley in its accessibility and the softness of its cashmere tannins. 92-94
Château Laroque
(Saint-Émilion; 99% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 31 hl/ha; pH 3.40; 13.8% ABV; tasted with David Suire at the property). The old vine Merlot from the 1950s was crucial to the capacity to manage the stress of the vintage – and one can see that immediately in the clarity and limpidity of the wine in the glass. Staggering purity, staggering lift, staggering energy and staggering precision. The Merlot here is almost rather floral and in this vintage, where the best Merlot has some Cabernet character, one might be mistaken into imagining that there is rather more Cabernet in the blend. The impression of harmony is amazing and total. Laroque is utterly gorgeous aromatically and, if anything, even more so on the palate in 2025. The transformation of what has been produced here – and with it the reputation of the wine – over the last decade is extraordinary. This is another vintage everyone will be talking about. I am struck by the gain in viscosity and volume in the mouth in comparison to even the greatest vintages of the past here, due to almost perfect integration of the ulta-fine grained tannins. We're clearly in 'best ever' territory and that's saying something. 96-98+
Château Laroze
(Saint-Émilion; 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 28 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at Château de Sales if I remember well). Fresh and vivid with pleasingly lifted red berry fruit, with red cherries flooding through with more aeration and a little walnut shell too bringing additional complexity. There's decent concentration here, accentuated by the relatively slender frame. Sapid and juicy on the finish with fine-grained, quite tactile chalky tannins. 90-92+
Château Lassègue
(Saint-Émilion; 48% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon; even on the old vines the yields were between 32 and 35 hl/ha; pH 3.55; 14.3% ABV; no press wine; tasted at Lassègue with Pierre Seilhan). The old vine fruit here is crucial to the identity of this, and it's brilliant. Pierre Seilhan's experience in California was also crucial in what was quite a Californian vintage. Blue-purple in the glass, almost dark at the core and extremely limpid in the late morning sunshine. There's a lovely, deep purple florality to this and it gently enrobes the popping blueberries and black cherries. Generous, ample in frame and rich, deep, dark at the core and profound. This pushes well into the cheeks, with a lovely sense of grip from the limestone tannins. There's lots of wine here and a generous spiciness distributed across the length of the layered palate. Overall, this is rather opulent, but the oak of the past just a memory. A large and very substantial wine that reveals the terroir so well. Brilliant in form and shape, and incredibly succulent and juicy precisely because of the density and compactness of the mid-palate and the ample frame. Joyous – and the best wine produced at Lassègue that I have tasted! 95-97+
Château Le Prieuré
(Saint-Émilion; 97% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 32 hl/ha; pH 3.30; 14.7% ABV; tasted at Calon Ségur). Lovely, bright and crunchy in its fruit signature. A touch of cedar and graphite. The narrow frame and the low pH, along with the grippy, chalky tannins, help ratchet up the intensity. Polished, stylish, sleek and very attractive with a pleasing terroir signature. Saline on the finish. This is very much back on form. 92-94
Château Les Gravières
(Saint-Émilion; 100% Merlot; a final yield of 26 hl/ha; 13.5% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at Château de Sales). Damsons gently waft from the glass, with a little black cherry and graphite. This is pure and lithe, quite lifted and aerial with beautifully fine-grained tannins. It's relatively slender in frame and that serves to give this more intensity that it would otherwise have. Nicely focussed. A touch of liquorice on the finish with more to come with aging. 91-93+
Château Lucia
(Saint-Émilion; 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of just 14.3 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at Château de Sales). Famously, one of the early garagistes, and with the yields so tiny here one wonders whether even half the garage was needed to vinify this. It's very good, with a lovely crystalline core of ripe black cherry, damson and blackcurrant fruit. But it's also just a touch dry on the finish. That said, the fruit signature is beautiful and there's a radiant purity to this that I really enjoy. 92-94
Château Magnan La Gaffelière
(Saint-Émilion; 65% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 40 hl/ha; pH 3.6; 13.5% ABV; tasted at Château de Sales). The sister estate in St-Émilion to Montlabert, and well-situated it is too, between Figeac and Laroze. This is intensely dark-fruited with a lovely blueberry note from the Cabernet Franc alongside the brambles and blackberries, and a delicate lilac florality too. There's a hint of cedar. On the palate the frame is quite slender but that works nicely, helping to build the impression of intensity in the mouth. Refined and elegant, this is a very attractive wine. 90-92+
Château Mangot
(Saint-Émilion; a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc; 13.5% ABV; tasted, I think, at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at de Pressac). Seriously focussed and very precise, even for Mangot, with a delicious florality and very intense berry fruit. There's lots of lift and a lovely natural sweetness to the fruit that is a little more stone-oriented on the palate and berry-oriented aromatically. Juicy, lithe and very fine-grained in its tannic profile, rendering this luminous and bright, crunchy and very impressive in the context of the vintage once again. 92-94
Château Monbousquet
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 21 hl/ha; pH 3.75; 13.87% ABV; tasted at Pavie). Bright, crunchy, quite extracted but fresh and with less evident oak on the nose. Immediately creamy on the attack, with layers of velour delicately enrobed in crumbly tannins. Quite solaire. Not especially complex, but the tannins are softer and there is none of the habitual dryness on the finish that there used to be so often here en primeur. Plump, plush and distinctive in its way. Liquorice, black tea, and dark and plummy in its fruit profile, but never jammy. 91-93+
Château Monlot
(Saint-Émilion; a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc; 13.5% ABV). Plump and juicy, with a damson and red plum fruit signature, this is a little more narrow in frame than I was perhaps expecting and a little more austere too. The fruit remains closely bound to the spine and this lacks some of its habitual viscosity and density in the mid-palate. Élevage will be important but I find this somewhat slender on the finish at this nascent stage. 89-91
Château Montlabert
(Saint-Émilion; 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 40 hl/ha; pH 3.6; 13.5% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). A rising star before this vintage and a newly ascendant one after it! This is deeply impressive, with its shimmering verticality, the purity of its fruit, the lovely hint of florality to its aromatics, the signature dark berry and black cherry fruit, and the suggestion already of cedar and graphite to come with age. This expresses the vintage so well. It has a natural sweetness to it, but never feels solar because it has an equally vivid, natural freshness coarsing through its veins. The second wine here, La Croix de Montlabert, is also excellent – pure, precise, focussed and accessible already (90-92+). 93-95
Château Montlisse
(Saint-Émilion; 85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 25 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Distinctive with a subtle blend of dark and redder berry notes, a little damson too and wilder heather and herbal notes. In the mouth the fruit seems to darken a little, and this seems to relax as well, becoming a little more expansive in frame. The tannins nicely shape the finish and this is well-sustained, and has an impressive sense of balance and harmony. 91-93
Château Moulin du Cadet
(Saint-Émilion; 100% Merlot; an impressive final yield of 41 hl/ha; pH 3.28; 14% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Dark, rich, plump and creamily textured, this is very true to the identity it has forged in recent vintages. The fruit is dark, but with more black cherry alongside the cassis and bramble than many others in the vintage. All is fresh, crunchy, bright and vivid, and there's a pleasing juiciness to the well-sustained finish. 91-93
Château Moulin Saint-George
(Saint-Émilion; 85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 30 hl/ha on the old vines; pH 3.50; 13.5% ABV; tasted at Ausone with various members of the Vauthier family). Blackberry and mulberry, a little black and red cherry (more of the former relative to the latter) and lovely, freshly crushed, aromatic black peppercorns. This is more ample in frame than Haut-Simard, but equally chiselled by its limestone tannins, rendering this more linear and classical in form. Gently tapering on the finish, this is another lesson in terroir expression, and so brilliantly characteristic of the vintage. 92-94+
Château Pavie
(Saint-Émilion; 60% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot; a final yield of 21 hl/ha; pH 3.58; 14.34% ABV; tasted at the property). The first vintage really to use all of the Cabernet Franc planted by Gerard Perse. Immediately striking in its Cabernet signature, with lovely floral notes and blueberries the first to identify themselves alongside the more familiar black cherry notes. There's graphite and fresh pencil-shavings too, with just a hint of the cedar to come. Lilac, cornflowers and a little rose petal and mimosa. It's lovely to find such delicate notes in a young Pavie. Ample, supple, full and intensely layered – more cashmere in texture than its customary velour, and with more clarity and lift. I really see now the direction of travel here. Perhaps the most aerial recent vintage of Pavie, but still very true to its identity and to its exceptional and unique terroir. 96-98+
Château Pavie Macquin
(Saint-Émilion; 78% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 30 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin and again at Belgrave). Now 30 years on from the first vintage made by Nicolas Thienpont, this is bold, big, rich and punchy, just as it always is, always will be and always should be. I notice particuarly the slightly ferrous character of its minerality but also the myrrh and cedar that bring so much to this, enveloping the dark stone fruits. What I also note is that Pavie Macquin here seems to have upped its (already extremely impressive) game in 2025. I've not always been the greatest fan of the more extracted style it seems to have sought in recent vintages, which can come at the expense of clarity and delineation in the mid-palate. Not here. I really love this. It's dark, glossy, substantial as ever, but more crystalline and pure, more fluid and sinuous and I'm won over by that subtle stylistic evolution. The oak is already seemlessly integrated. Very fine while remaining very Pavie Macquin. 94-96+
Château Péby Faugères
(Saint-Émilion; 100% Merlot; a final yield of 35 hl/ha; pH 3.49; 14.54% ABV; certified organic; a long maceration in vat before aging in oak barrels, one third new, one third with one use, the rest two; tasted twice, first at Château de Sales and then at Faugères with skilled artist and equally skilled oenologue Vincent Cruège). Glossy, lithe, succulent, with a lovely, very natural sweetness to the black cherry, sloe and damson fruits. There's a little black raspberry and blackcurrant too bringing additional freshness and sapidity. The tannins really take this in charge after quite an ample attack, first coaxing and then bullying the fruit back to the increasingly well-defined central spine. The combination of black cherry, incense and cedar as the wine opens out is to die for! So too the salt-encrusted black liquorice root note on the finish. You would hardly have any sense of this being aged in any new oak so well-incorporated is it already (in fact it's one third). A brilliantly sapid finish and a brilliant wine! 95-97
Château Petit Faurie de Soutard
(Saint-Émilion; 93% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 31 hl/ha; 13.5% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Plump, plush, lithe and energetic, with lovely floral notes, even if they almost at times feel a little confected (the floral essences in expensive soap, perhaps). They seem to grow around the cherries and the berries. This is also relaxed and radiant in its purity. Accessible and engaging already but with decent mid-term aging potential too. 92-94
Château Petit Gravet Aîné
(Saint-Émilion; 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, % Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 20 hl/ha; 13.5% ABV; tasted, as I recall, at Château de Sales). Smokier than most and with a distinct earthy/loamy note to its mineral signature. The fruit is naturally sweet – a blend of blue and darker berry and stone fruits – and it ripples on the finish. This might lack the mid-palate clarity and delineation of the very best, but the good work continues here, and this is one of the strongest showings from this property that I can recall. 91-93
Château Peymouton
(Saint-Émilion; 95% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc; tasted at Bélair-Monange). Quite lifted and aerial, with beautifully refined tannins. A simple, dark, predominantly berry fruit with a little black pepper. Cassis is again the predominant note on the palate. Slender and sleek with lovely fruit purity. Accessible but very well made and stylish in its sleek profile. 91-93
Château Puyblanquet
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 38 hl/ha; pH 3.40; 13.7% ABV; tasted at La Gaffelière). Intense, supple and so well-defined by its terroir. This is very refined but it's also very structured and sculpted by the limestone tannins. It forms a beautiful shape in the mouth, with quite a tight and narrow frame. Taut and tense, with lovely chewy, pulpy, powdery tannins. This expresses both the terroir and the vintage so well. 92-94+
Château Quinault L'Enclos
(Saint-Émilion; 62% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 23 hl/ha; pH 3.70; 13% ABV; tasted with Pierre-Olivier Clouet at Cheval Blanc). This won't be released en primeur but it'll be very well worth looking out for once in bottle as it's excellent! Lovely purple fruits – blueberry and mulberry, black cherry and cassis. Loads of graphite, loads of density, loads of layering, and a great vitality. Bright, crunchy and more fresh in its florality than perhaps ever before. Succulent, juicy and moreish. 93-95
Château Quintus
(Saint-Émilion; 73.2% Merlot, 26.8% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 29.5 hl/ha; pH 3.50; 14% ABV; just 39% new oak; tasted at the property with Mariette Veyssière). The top of the slopes suffered most here, with compensating yields further down. This manages so well that fine line between cool and solar in terms of the character of the vintage. It's a little more solar aromatically and yet a little more cool in the depths of the mid-palate. Very calm, tranquil and composed; a little introvert, if not perhaps closed, this is very dark fruited, with lots of blueberry and black cherry, a little mulberry perhaps too with wild herbal and floral notes, cassis with gentle aeration. Here we have freshly crushed rose peppercorns rather than the green peppercorns of Le Dragon. There's a little spice from the barrel, but the oak is well absorbed, with cedar and a little graphite. This is more ample and softer still than Le Dragon – a tamed dragon perhaps. The fruit on the attack is brighter still and lighter in hue – loganberry and wild raspberry. Very pure, very elegant and stylish, suave and silky with an impressive clarity. This finishes on grapeskin, the impression reinforced by the delicate yet distinctly powdery, chalky tannins. A lovely lesson in terroir expression. 94-96
Château Ripeau
(Saint-Émilion; 65% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 25.3 hl/ha; 13.5% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). There's a pleasing and quite distinct fruit purity to this – more red berries than the darker berries of many of its neighbours, loganberry and raspberry above all. That indicates the vibrancy, tension and freshness that coarses through the veins of another very accomplished wine from Ripeau. 92-94
Château Rocheyron
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 30 hl/ha; pH 3.45; 14% ABV; certified organic; comes from three lieu dits – Rocheyron, Champs de Rocheyron and Échères, with 7 of almost 8 hectares in production; tasted at Rocheyron with Peter Sisseck and Mathieu Raveraud, the estate manager; Axel Marchal and Valérie Lavigne are the consultants here). One is struck immediately by the glorious purity and incredible finesse of this wine; it opens so beautifully and also so graciously. What a study in precision! A remarkable wine that is the culmination to-date of Peter Sisseck's journey here. Damson, black cherry, blueberry with a little Szechuan peppercorn – both green and red. There's graphite too, with a hint of the cedar to come. It doesn't have the ample frame of many of its neighbours, so the presentation of the tannins and the resulting mouthfeel and texture are more cashmere and velour rather than silk. I find this incredibly tactile in the mouth. At first it's wondrously and deceptively delicate and soft. You have to refocus the mind to comprehend what's happening. The opening on the palate is so slow, so refined and so pure. The mid-palate is deeply layered, with the tannins like pencil strokes delineating the external parameters for the watercolour artist to fill with a palate of dark berry fruits. The distribution of freshness across the palate is perfectly measured and, essential to all of this, is the ever so delicate shaping of the flow of the fruit over the palate by the limestone tannins. Utterly divine and utterly ethereal. I am struck by the sheer accessibility of a wine that will age gracefully for 100 years. 98-100
Château Rol Valentin
(Saint-Émilion; a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc; 13.5% ABV). One senses the tautness and the tension immediately from the aromatics. This is a wine with an impressive sense of lift, with the freshness here seeming to break through the surface of the wine, disrupting the darker cherry notes with a crisper, fresher, berry fruit. That renders this rather interesting and dynamic on the palate. The tannins on the finish are, however, just a little dry at this stage. 90-92
Château Sanctus
(Saint-Émilion; a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc; 13.5% ABV). Sloes, damsons, pulpy black raspberries and brambles, with a little suggestion of heather and of wild moorside herbs and shrubs. This is dark and concentrated at its quite spherical core with a pleasing sense of concentration. It's a little confected, however, in the mid-palate and ever so slightly soapy in texture. It's also somewhat dry on the finish. In short, the promise of the aromatics are far from fully realised, at least at this stage, on the palate. 88-90
Château Sansonnet
(Saint-Émilion; 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 32 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted twice at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault and at UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). Vivid, vibrant and lifted aromatically, with a lovely essential and pure cassis and black cherry fruit, a little freshly grated dark chocolate, a hint (but no more) of oak smoke and a trace of walnut shell. On the palate this is rich, deep, dark and quite succulent, but crucially it is also luminous and crystalline in texture, helped by the relatively ample frame. Nicely done. Fluid, fresh and harmonious with plenty of finesse. 92-94
Château Simard
(Saint-Émilion; 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 45 hl/ha; pH 3.70; 13.35% ABV; tasted at Ausone with various members of the Vauthier family). Plum and dark berry fruits, crunchy, plump and juicy; this is not especially complex but it's delightfully engaging, quite bright and lifted, and I love the way the fruit seems to darken over the palate, the freshness building to a crescendo. Decent concentration too. Impressive. 90-92+
Château Soutard
(Saint-Émilion; a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc; 13.5% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). This is quite slender in frame, but that accentuates the sense of intensity on the attack, though there's not a great deal of density nor viscosity. But the dark berry fruits retain a beautiful freshness and this feels poised and nicely balanced, if lacking perhaps the complexity of the greatest of its peers. Glossy and succulent. 91-93+
Château Soutard-Cadet
(Saint-Émilion; 90% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 28 hl/ha; 14% ABV). Full and quite expressive aromatically, with that signature combination of red and darker berries and a little griotte cherry. There's just a subtle hint of oak and the spice it brings. The acidity in the mid-palate feels quite elevated and that renders this a little strict and then a tad etiolated on the finish, but there's certainly plenty of freshness and sapidity. I suspect this will flesh out a little more with age. For now, it's just a little stern. 90-92
Château Teyssier
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.65; 13.2% ABV; sent to me in Bordeaux by Jonathan Maltus). Another very accessible and engaging, lively and energetic Teyssier from Jonathan Maltus, always one of the appellation's greatest values. This is bright and crunchy with red berry fruits popping in the mouth. It's light and aerial and manages the vintage very well. It will be accessible early and is likely to bring lots of pleasure. 89-91
Château Tour Saint Christophe
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 27 hl/ha; pH 3.35; 14.5% ABV; certified organic; tasted at Bellefont Belcier with Emmanuelle Fulchi). A lovely contrast to Bellefont-Belcier, with an even darker fruit signature as ever. Here we find sloes and damsons, blueberries and brambles, all perfectly al dente. This is intensely sapid, structured and chiselled by the limestone tannins, but never in an austere or severe way. Pure, tense, precise and very elegant, this is a wonderfully articulate signature of its top terroir. 94-96
Château Troplong Mondot
(Saint-Émilion; 85% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 27 hl/ha; pH 3.43; 13.9% ABV; 40% aged in larger format foudres which helps with the integration of the tannins; tasted at the property with Aymeric de Gironde). Quite saline. Graphite and, with 30 minutes of aeration, a little cedar. Walnut, damson stone, black raspberry, blackberry and a little cassis and mulberry, but also lovely notes of wild strawberry. Rose petals and rose peppercorns, all very much in that floral register. Rich, deep, full and ample in frame on the attack, but immediately the fruit is taken in charge by those lovely terroir-defined, powdery, chalky tannins. At first they allow the fruit to grow further in amplitude in the mouth, so fine are they, but gradually they win over the will of the fruit, coaxing it gently back to the well-defined central spine. Sapid and energetic, spicy and peppery, lithe and – with the grip of the tannins – croquant and scrunchy. A lovely expression of the vintage from this top terroir. 96-98
Château Trottevieille
(Saint-Émilion; 51% Cabernet Franc, 46% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon; 13.5% ABV; tasted at Trottevieille with Frédéric Castéra). You'd never guess that this is 100% new oak. Sombre and incredibly poised, this is radiantly beautiful aromatically and certainly one of the most floral wines of the vintage. Subtle, delicate, with violet and iris, the rose petals of La Dame de Trottevieille, but not in the same quantities (though, as for La Dame, they grow and grow with aeration). A little damson, black cherry and blueberry, cassis with aeration in the mouth. Blood orange. Ample on the attack and cool to the core, this is incredibly fresh and the freshness is supremely well-distributed across the entire length of the palate, vertically and horizontally too. Multi-dimensional, incredibly layered, with silken sheets interspersed by beady, almost powdery, chalky tannins. This is already extremely accessible and divine in the mouth, but it's also a vin de garde that is capable of lasting 100 years. The best ever from here, quite possibly. 97-99
Château Valandraud
(Saint-Émilion; 84% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14% ABV; tasted at the UGCB press tasting at the Cité du Vin). This is an easy pick and it's very distinctive, with the intense florality that is so often the signature here supported and underscored – as again it so often is here – by a little oak sweetness and spice. That's now a rarer thing, even more so in this low alcohol vintage, than it used to be and I almost feel a little nostalgic! Candlewax, incense, violet, patchouli, candle smoke, damson and black cherry. This is beguilingly beautiful but in a slightly seductive and hedonistic way – a little different from the more hauting beauty of some other of the very top wines of the appellation. There's a place for both. I love this equally. 95-97+
Château Villemaurine
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 30 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Sleek, stylish and elegant, with a lovely plunge-pool clarity to the mid-palate, the oak already perfectly integrated and the tannins present, but so fine-grained and spherical that they seem to convey the fruit forward in the mouth as if on little glass rollers. Plush, sapid and succulent, I love this. Villemaurine has been on top form for a decade; this is perhaps its crowning achievement to date. Floated on the finish and all the more ethereal for that. 94-96
Château Yon-Figeac
(Saint-Émilion; 72% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 40 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). Crunchy and bright in its blend of predominently dark berry fruits, with a little loganberry and red cherry thrown in for good measure. The tannins are quite grippy and when they grip they unleash a wave of freshness onto the palate, ratcheting up the perception of acidity and rendering this a little stern and severe on the finish. Not yet a picture of harmony, it'll be interesting to retaste this from bottle. 89-91
Clavis Oréa
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; 13.5% ABV). Cool, soft, dark and rich, with a lovely touch of cedar already very present, gently caressing and finally enrobing the blueberry and black cherry fruits. Plump and crunchy, with a little more red berry fruit in the juicy and quite lifted mid-palate. Rippling on the finish after the grip and pinch of the chalky tannins. 92-94
Clos Badon Thunevin
(Saint-Émilion; 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.7; 13.5% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). This is broader on the attack, with the fruit not exactly stretched, but unfurled horizontally in lovely, layered sheets. Glossy, almost polished in texture, this is very pure, with ultra-fine-grained, glassy tannins that seem to encroach between the layers offering detail and a certain form of pixelation. Fresh from the start, but fresher still after the gentle grip of the tannins that shape something of a fantail. This is very nicely achieved and the oak almost completely incorporated already. 92-94+
Clos Cantenac
(Saint-Émilion; 100% Merlot; 13.25% ABV). This has an intense, dark, plummy, stony fruit, generously enrobed in a slightly ferrous but at the same time loamy minerality. There's a touch of wild sage and maybe a little thyme too, and a twist or two of the peppermill. With aeration we find graphite and a hint of pipesmoke. In the mouth, the fruit is held quite tightly to the spine. The tannins are grippy and the tannic count clearly quite high, but they are fine-grained and have been very well managed. This needs time, but the potential is evident. Petit Cantenac (Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc; 13% ABV). Plummy and attractive in its gentle natural sweetness. Impressively succulent and juicy in the mid-palate. Accessible and nicely managed if just a little dry on the finish (87-89). 90-92
Clos de L'Oratoire
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 34 hl/ha; 13.5% ABV; tasted at Canon-La-Gaffelière with Stephan and Ludovic von Neipperg; certified organic). Another brilliant wine from the von Neippergs in this vintage. We start in Saint-Émilion from a very elevated level. This is the kind of vintage that flatters both the organic viticulture – and resulting health of the vineyard – and the attention to detail in the vinification, which has become more and more accomplished with each year here. Plump and full in the mouth, pushing into the cheeks, with impressive clarity and supreme sapidity. Almost scrunchy on the fresh and juicy finish. I love it. 92-94+
Clos de Sarpe
(Saint-Émilion; 78% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot; a final yield of just 20 hl/ha; 14.5% ABV; certified organic; tasted twice, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault with Maylis Marcenat close by!). This is lovely and actually not a very difficult pick, I suspect, tasted blind (as I verified to my mild surprise at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault, which is one of the few also to provide a line-up of disguised samples). The black cherry fruit is the signature here, with a little wild florality and hint of damson, walnut shell and even a suggestion of frangipane. This is quite ample in frame (but not excessively so), beautifully crystalline and luminous in the mid-palate (more so than any wine I have ever tasted from here) and it has that essential vivacity and dynamism that is a mark of the great respect for its terroir and environment that is present here. Cool at its spherical core, but never austere – indeed more shimmering and radiant. Wonderful. Bravo. A true coup de coeur. 95-97
Clos des Jacobins
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 40 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted three times, the second time at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault). This is much more ample in frame and more dynamic too in the mouth than its somewhat more austere stablemate, La Commanderie, with greater fruit complexity, a little more graphite and cedar, and a more dynamic unfolding over the palate. It's much longer on the finish too and feels like it has altogether more mid-palate density and sustained impact. 91-93+
Clos Dubreuil
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14% ABV; tasted at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault and then again at de Pressac). This is a little different this year and has me quickly recalibrating my expectations. It's certainly equally good, but I detect a slight evolution in the style. Indeed, let's be honest, I prefer it! This has a very bright and crunchy red berry fruit – raspberry and loganberry – a little almond shell, perhaps, and assorted wild flowers – peonies and irises very evident when retasted at de Pressac, where I find too a little red cherry. It feels more natural, more vibrant and distinctly less oaky than in recent vintages. The central spine is also well-defined and there's a pleasing clarity to the mid-palate. Nicely done. Very fresh, but also very pure. 92-94+
Clos Fourtet
(Saint-Émilion; 84% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 28 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted at the property). Nutty at first aromatically, which I wasn't quite expecting. Saline in its minerality too. And, of course, intensely dark berry-fruited. The signature florality is there but it needs a little coaxing from the glass. This is luminous, indeed crystalline, incredibly pure and seems to be composed of glistening sheets of layered silk. There's a little touch of graphite, but no cedar as yet. In a way it's simpler and more beautiful than that – just pure fruit grown on limestone! Clos Fourtet is a wine of vivid freshness, with a fruit profile more pure than perhaps any other in this vintage. It's intimate, refined, elegant, and extremely limpid, with the most delicate touch of those beautifully powdery signature limestone tannins. Exquisite, perfectly pixelated in its detail and utterly brilliant. Closerie de Fourtet (85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 28 hl/ha; 14% ABV). From clay parcels just outside the château and the young vines. Beautifiully crunchy in its vibrant purple fruit purity. Accessible, lithe and brilliantly pure. Racy. Crunchy. Fabulous (91-93). 96-98
Clos Saint-Julien
(Saint-Émilion; 50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 19hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted in Bordeaux and then again at Château de Sales). The smallest of all of the grands crus classés and with yields below 20hl/ha in this vintage there won't be much of this. But it's great! Slightly smoky, slightly dusty in its minerality but also with a little hint of peat and iodine (like an Islay whisky) and with a reassuringly bright, crisp, crunchy stone and berry fruit, this is vivid and vibrant. Fun, quite hedonistic and with a lovely sense of balance and harmony, this has not been pushed too far at all. 93-95
Clos Saint-Martin
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 32 hl/ha; 13.8% ABV; tasted first in Bordeaux and then re-tasted at Bélair Monange). In a vintage like this, one has great expectations for a wine from this address, and it doesn't disappoint. Indeed, there's a purity and succulence to this – and also a modicum less wood influence (notable, above all, on the palate). That lifts this above my already elevated expectations. This is a wine to covet. It has the most divine mouthfeel, somewhere between cashmere and silk and, as that perhaps suggests, is wonderfully lifted and aerial. The delicate hint of florality is delightful, as is the briary dark berry fruit signature. I can sense bramble stains on my fingers, so fresh and vibrant is the fruit. 96-98
Couvent des Jacobins
(Saint-Émilion; 82% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 27hl/ha; pH 3.7; 14% ABV; harvested 10-17th September for the Merlot, 19th for the Cabernet Franc and 23rd for the Petit Verdot, the earliest ever; tasted multiple times including at the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion tasting at Dassault and then again at the property before a vertical tasting with Xavier Jean and Denis Pomarède). Another potential 'best ever' showing from Couvent des Jacobins, a wine that has been on a steep upward ascent for a number of vintages. This is distinctive, with lovely bramble and damson fruit, lots of walnut shell and walnut oil, a little cracked black pepper, that characteristic crasse de fer note from the Merlot planted next to Coutet, and a lovely succulence in the plump and generous mid-palate. Long and juicy on the finish with the tannins gripping and seemingly squeezing additional freshness to cleanse the palate. 93-95
Croix Canon
(Saint-Émilion; 79% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 40 hl/ha; pH 3.5; 14% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at the property with Nicolas Audebert). Yes, Canon is in a sense 'better', but this is brilliant for what it is. And it also gives us a lovely sense of where the grand vin is headed with lovely cedar and graphite generously enrobing the blueberry and blackberry fruits (in fact rather more of the latter than the former). Tender and chewy on the finish this will age gracefully. But it'll be highly accessible, too, as soon as it's in bottle – and tricky to resist! 92-94
Croix Cardinale
(Saint-Émilion; 56% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Franc, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon; a final yield of 33 hl/ha; 13.2% ABV; tasted twice, in Bordeaux and then at Château de Sales). Another wine from the heights of the appellation that really sings of its terroir. We have great fruit purity and the quite ample frame gives the fruit space to express itself. The effect is to give to the wine a certain luminous, bright and crystalline quality that is very charming and that allows us to read the terroir more precisely. I love the signature wild herbal notes here. A great success. 92-94
Croix de Beauséjour
(Saint-Émilion; 95% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 39 hl/ha; pH 3.41; 13.5% ABV; 20% new oak; tasted with Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse and Instagram star Tokaji, of course, at Beauséjour). Rose petals. Signature grand terroir fruit purity, here loganberry and raspberry, a little mulberry perhaps, even a touch of blueberry. White pepper. This is a wine that it is incredibly 'lisible' as the French would put it – 'readable' or 'legible' is the closest translation. So bright and fresh, so lifted and pure (that word again). It's brilliant in both its incredible vibrancy and its sheer quality! Deceptive only in the sense that you think this comes from a pure limestone terroir – with that linearity, verticality and the powdery chalky tannins – but it doesn't. What is more evident is just how good it is. 94-96
Dame de Trottevieille
(Saint-Émilion; 57% Cabernet Franc; 43% Merlot; 13.5% alcohol; tasted at Trottevieille with Frédéric Castéra). There was no extreme hydric stress here. In 2025 we find the highest proportion of Cabernet Franc ever in the blend for this. It's a gorgeous, succulent and gracious wine, bulby in its frank (Cabernet Franc) florality. Rose petals, more and more with aeration. Walnut, peony and graphite intermingle beautifully. This is succulent, soft, delicate in a way, but with significant amplitude, density and concentration nonetheless. Silky, svelte, enticing and cool at the core. La Dame is extremely bright and juicy, with lovely upswirls of freshness from the depths. The grip of the tannins also seems to come from below, driving freshness with it into the heart of the mid-palate. Very beautiful, very composed, very harmonious and supremely elegant. 93-95
Fontfleurie
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 18.5 hl/ha; 13% ABV; tasted in Bordeaux; from Vignobles Jade; the consultants here are Jean-Claude & Jean-François Berrouet; certified organic and biodynamic). Shimmering in its almost pulsating red and blackcurrant fruit purity, this is radiant, lifted and quite ethereal. It's a simple wine in a way, but one I find incredibly beautiful. It feels so natural and poised, so racy, fresh and dynamic – and it energises the palate in the most elegant way. Highly recommended. This isn't going to break the bank. 91-93+
Haut Gros Caillou
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot; 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; 10% Cabernet Franc; 13.5% alcohol). This is fresher, brighter, crunchier still in its fruit signature than Palais Cardinale with more dark berry and less stone fruit. It's a little less sweet-scented on the palate and there's a little more concentration and density in the mid-palate. Long and quite lifted on the finish. Nicely achieved. 90-92+
L'If
(Saint-Émilion; 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 38 hl/ha; pH 3.28; 13.6% ABV; tasted at Le Pin with Jacques Thienpont, Diana Berrouet Garcia and Vianney Gravereaux). Divine and quite distinctive aromatically, with a little salty twang and a nutty note too wrapped around the dark berry fruits. This is very soft and delicate, the extraction clearly incredibly gentle. I love the graphite, more and more present with aeration. This evolves in the glass, becoming darker in its fruit signature and more floral too. It's incredibly lifted and aerial, staggeringly beautiful and wonderfully gracious. One of the most subtle and beautiful wines of the vintage. There's great charm and personality, and absolutely no sensation of oak (with greater use of foudres now). Fabulous. 97-99
La Voûte
(Saint-Émilion; 100% Merlot; pH 3.36; 13.45% alcohol; from a small jewel of a property opposite Fleur Cardinale and Valandraud of 3.93 hectares, with just over 3 hectares on the limestone plateau itself; a final yield of a very healthy 40 hl/ha; Thomas Duclos is the consultant here). This is the first vintage of this to be presented en primeur and it's very impressive. This is top terroir limestone plateau Saint-Émilion and it's been very well managed. Cassis and wild blueberry, pumice and graphite. Soft and quite ample on the attack, with very gracious but distinctly chalky, powdery tannins sketching like pencil strokes the external parameters of a dense, fruit-charged frame. There's a lovely purity and freshness to this, nothing at all out of proportion and I love the way the delicate yet tactile tannins squeeze, pinch and form the lifted, aerial, shimmering finish. Very accomplished and very impressive indeed. A potential star under the spotlights for the first time. Saint-Etienne-de-Lisse has new talent! 92-94
Le Dôme
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot; pH 3.88; 13.8% ABV; tasted from samples sent to me in Bordeaux by Jonathan Maltus). A simply gorgeous wine from Jonathan Maltus this year with rather more evident Cabernet Franc character than it can sometimes have, with a gorgeous purity to the plump blueberry and black cherry fruit, a generous, radiant lilac and lily of the valley florality – with a hint of peony and violet too if you go looking for them – and lots of graphite. The clarify of the mid-palate is incredible given its sheer density and depth. Succulent and sapid, racy and juicy on the long finish, with that lovely tactile touch of powdery, chalky tannin. The oak is almost imperceptible. 96-98
Le Dragon de Quintus
(Saint-Émilion; 74.8% Merlot, 25.2% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 29.5 hl/ha; pH 3.50; 13.85% ABV; just 30% new oak; tasted at the property with Mariette Veyssière). Based on an inter-parcel selection. Lovely notes of wild sage and damson, a little blueberry and blackberry, some black cherry too. Graphite, as ever here. Crushed green peppercorns. Soft and supple, quite sinuous with a lovely upthrust of fresh juiciness like an injection into the heart of the mid-palate. The finish is aerial and refined. Very elegant, very fresh and very true to its style. Le Saint Emilion de Quintus (87.2% Merlot, 12.8% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.8; 13.55 ABV). Lovely dark berries. Plump and ripe, enrobed in a little florality with a touch of black pepper. Soft and gentle, indicative of the style Quintus and the quality of its tannins. A little graphite and black cherry. Soft tannins, quite a narrow frame filled with fresh fruit juice. Simple but lovely, with a lovely limestone tannin (89-91). 92-94
Les Astéries
(Saint-Émilion; 85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.63; 13.7% ABV; tasted from samples sent to me in Bordeaux by Jonathan Maltus). This is lovely and, for me at least, a big step up from Laforge and Teyssier this year. The first thing one notices is the lovely natural sweetness of the dark berry and damson fruit, then the hint of florality and the trace of the cedar and graphite that will be a more and more present feature of the wine as it ages. There's a lovely chocolate-meets-violet note in the depths of the mid-palate and we have, of course, those wonderfully powdery astéries limestone tannins bringing a very tactile quality to the finish. 93-95
Les Demoiselles de Coutet
(Saint-Émilion; a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc; 14% ABV; tasted from a sample provided by Adrien David Beaulieu, somewhat predictably without a fiche tecknique!). The cuvée speciale from Château Coutet, this is more impressive still. The fruit is more berry-oriented with crunchy red and darker berry fruits joining Coutet's damsons, the mid-palate delineation greater, and the resulting clarity and sense of dynamism in the mid-palate accentuated. This is beautifullt poised and elegant yet vivid, vital and fresh at the same time. There's very little produced, but it's worth seeking out. 92-94
Lynsolence
(Saint-Émilion; 100% Merlot; a final yield of 27 hl/ha; 14% ABV; tasted twice, the second time at Château de Sales). A little fuller and richer, with more extraction and greater mid-palate density than stablemate Les Gravières. There's more black cherry and cassis but less plum and bramble. With the cassis comes more tension and freshness – and with that, in turn, a lovely sapidity on the finish. I love the little hint of Szechuan pepper rolled up with that freshness somewhere! 92-94
Mondot
(Saint-Émilion; 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 27 hl/ha; pH 3.43; 13.9% ABV; no new oak; tasted with Aymeric at Troplong). Lovely peppery notes, with freshly crushed rose, green and aromatic black peppercorns, a lovely dark berry and plum stone fruit with blackberry, cassis, mulberry and a little damson. There's a little of the characteristic wild herbal notes of the terroir. Ample in frame, and with a lovely precipitation of freshness that seems to descend through the mid-palate like waterdrops on glass. Essentially fresh, very vertical, and with a lovely touch of limestone tannin that beautifully enrobes and gently structures the tender and tactile finish. I love the chalk dust tannins and the signature of the terroir they impart. 92-94+
No.3 d'Angélus
(Saint-Émilion; 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 35 hl/ha; pH 3.50; 13.5% ABV; tasted at Angélus with Stephanie de Boüard-Rivoal and Benjamin Laforêt). This has a lovely, very pure and bright raspberry and loganberry fruit, green and black peppercorns, a hint – but not much more – of dry spice too, and a wild herbal note that is very 'Angélus' to me. Pencil-shavings and pencil lead; ironically, too, black pen ink. Succulent and sapid, saline too, with lots of minerality. Very juicy. Fabulously well made. A lovely, quite ample frame but with impressive density in the mid-palate too. Accessible but quite substantial; there's a lot of wine here! 92-94
Palais Cardinal
(Saint-Émilion; 75% Merlot; 15% Cabernet Sauvignon; 10% Cabernet Franc; 13.5% alcohol). Bright and distinctly crunchy in its fruit signature, with plenty of vertical lift, a lovely note of wild thyme, but quite a bit of sweet spice too - cinnamon and nutmeg above all; there's even a hint of star anise. Bramble and baked plums. On the palate this is quite sweet-fruited on the attack and more solar than most. It's not especially ample in frame and lacks a little in sustenance. But it's been nicely managed and will be accessible and quite hedonistic almost immediately. 90-92
Palais Cardinal Cuvée 1867
(Saint-Émilion; 65% Merlot; 25% Cabernet Sauvignon; 10% Cabernet Franc; 13.5% alcohol). A special cuvée named to honour the founding date of the property; just 1867 bottles produced. This is more intense than the other Palais Cardinal wines, but the greater extraction, greater density and greater concentration comes without any loss of precision and with no degradation in the quality of the fine-grained tannins. This is plump on the attack and plush in and through the mid-palate. The graphite generously enrobes the dark berry and stone fruit and this is nicely sustained on the finish. Rather more serious and with significantly extended aging potential this will require a little more patience than Palais Cardinal itself. 91-93
Saintayme
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 40 hl/ha; 14.5% ABV; tasted at Église-Clinet with Olivier Gautrat). Brilliant in its radiant purity, conveyed above all via the lift imparted by the limestone tannins, this is likely to represent exceptional value for money and a real lesson in what can be achieved. This is very 'Durantou'. A lovely black cherry fruit. Plenty of pepper. Succulent and fresh, generous and wonderfully accessible. 91-93+
Tertre Roteboeuf
(Saint-Émilion; 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 30 hl/ha; pH 3.8; 14.5% ABV; aging in 100% new oak in Radoux Super Fine Blend barrels; tasted from barrel at the property à la Bourgignon!). Much more profound than the Côtes de Bourg wines and a marked step up. This has the freshness and crunchy berry fruit of the vintage, a touch of its solar side (we are, after all, in the lieu dit of Roteboeuf!) but a sapidity and juiciness that is essential and crucial to the overall balance of the wine. Yes, the oak is highly toasted and somewhat dominant aromatically, bringing pot pourri and walnut, confit fruit notes too alongside the bramble and dark briary fruits. But this has impressive density and compactness, is more layered than usual and the tannins really structure the rippling, sapid, almost pulsating finish. There's lots of long term potential here. But made in this style in this vintage we have a true vin de garde, much less accessible than many of its neighbours at this nascent stage. A wine that will undoubtedly reward patience. 95-97
Vieux Château Mazerat
(Saint-Émilion; 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.72; 13.6% ABV; tasted from a sample sent to me in Bordeaux by Jonathan Maltus). This is lovely and an easy pick blind, certainly in the Maltus line-up. This is a wine that is always defined by those plump, plush, crunchy, glossy black cherries and a little blueberry – and both are on evident display here. This is, however, much less oaky than it used to be and that allows us to pick out a little more of the floral detail – peony and iris above all. There are lovely, fresh, green peppercorn notes too, and both seem to contribute to the generous succulence of the mid-palate. This is very lovely. 94-96
