Looking at the Grand Vin, the 2022 Château Pavie is 52% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon raised in 75% new barrels for 20 months. It brings a more focused, precise style in its darker berries, graphite, crushed stone, and floral arom...
The 2022 Château Cheval Blanc is based on 53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, brought up all in new oak, and this is the second year where no Petite Cheval was produced. (2015 was the last.) Its deep purple color is followed by a ri...
So many beautiful primary fruit aromas. Al dente. Peaches. Very floral. Aromatic. Full-bodied and extremely fine tannins with length and beauty that show incredible depth. Superb brightness and reality. Exciting. Cabernet franc freshness and dynamics come...
In bottle, the 2022 Lafite Rothschild has turned out even better than I anticipated. Wafting from the glass with aromas of sweet red berries, minty blackcurrants, violets and cigar box, it's medium to full-bodied, velvety and suave, with a deep, envelopi...
The 2021 Ausone is a gorgeous wine, but it is also quite reticent and in need of time to come around. The operative word here is balance, as all the elements are so well put together. Soft, gentle contours wrap around a core of succulent red/purplish frui...
he 2018 Ausone is mind-blowing. The aromatics alone are mesmerizing. I don't know what more to say. Cabernet Franc is so expressive, so vibrant so nuanced. Rose petal, cinnamon, star anise and sage meld into a core of red fleshed fruit. The 2018 doesn't i...
Tasted blind at the 2012 Southwold tasting, the 2012 Ausone took more time to settle in the glass than its peers, eventually deciding upon briary, violet and cassis scents: very floral and Margaux-like in style, not powerful but insistent. The palate is m...