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Southwold: 2016 Bordeaux Blind (Aug 2020)

The 2016 Château Margaux has an intense bouquet of blackberry, briar, crushed stone and subtle cedar aromas that enrapture the senses; hints of pencil box and sous-bois emerge with time. The harmonious palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a fine bead of acidity, and a touch of bitterness lends tension on the finish. Impressive…

2016 Bordeaux…It’s All In The Bottle (Jan 2019)

A gorgeous, captivating bouquet gives the 2016 Margaux an irresistible allure. Weightless and yet wonderfully persistent, in the way only the château’s wines can be, the 2016 Grand Vin is a wine of exceptional breeding and pedigree. So many wines in this vintage are obvious, but Margaux is a wine that takes time to discover,…

Delivering Where It Counts: Meyney 1971–2017 (Jul 2020)

The 2003 Meyney was one of a cluster of wines from the Northern Médoc that performed very well in this infamous growing season, even if it cannot hold a candle to the top Saint-Estèphes. It has a ripe damson and cedar nose with a little fig and raisin developing, fraying slightly at the seams yet…

Looking Back To Go Forward: Lafite-Rothschild 1868 – 2015 (Jul 2018)

The 1986 Lafite-Rothschild is a great wine although over several recent encounters it is never a convincing perfect wine. This mirrors the bottle I tasted at the property in 2016: blackberry and graphite on the nose, gawky at first, but coalescing with time. The palate is well balanced with firm tannins, strong graphite scents unfolding…

Outsider Looking In: Sociando-Mallet 1982-2015 (March 2019)

The 2000 Sociando-Mallet has long been a controversial wine, and a couple of recent encounters explain why it was omitted from the vertical at the château. It is simply underripe and vegetal on the nose, a simple case of picking too early. That vegetal element translates across onto the palate and mars what ought to…

The Annual Red Bordeaux Report (May 2003)

Bright ruby-red. Rich, perfumed aromas of black raspberry, blackberry, minerals and cocoa powder. Big, dense, lush and deep, but with lovely sappy vinosity; this expands impressively to fill the mouth. Finishes very long, with suave, broad tannins and a note of black olive. A gloriously successful vintage for Sociando-Mallet, offering a full range of cabernet…