This week sees the release of Château Clarke, (£115 per six) a Listrac-Médoc which belongs to the Baron Edmond de Rothschild, who also has a share of Lafite, and which has had a lot of investment since they bought it in 1971. Neal Martin gives it 90-92 points, and suggests that this should drink well from 2020 for another 10 to 12 years. We liked this for its complex purity of creamy balanced fruit, and it showed well in the context of the Listrac-Moulis tasting.
As we expected, this week has been a rather quiet showing from Bordeaux, with the activity of Vinexpo in Hong Kong taking centre stage.This does give us a bit of time to have a good look at what has been released so far.
Château Léoville Barton is one of the most compelling releases so far, we really enjoyed tasting it with Lilian Barton and the critics agree – Tim Atkin gives it 94 points, James Suckling and Neal Martin give it 94-95 and 94-96 respectively. As ever, this will be a treat to find in your cellar in years to come.
From the ‘hot in 2015’ commune of Margaux, value is to be had from Châteaux Ferrière, Angludet, Labégorce and du Tertre.
On the right bank the Denis Durantou ‘junior wines’,Saintayme, La Chenade, Montlandrie and Cruzelles impressed us again in 2015 and still look great value – great wines at a fair price – you can read more about them here and here.
Our annual visit t
o see Stefan Dief at Clos Manou was a highlight as ever. His 2015 is another example of beautifully crafted wine – this is real wine making in the Northern Médoc. These wines will give much pleasure to drinkers.
For all our value recommendations see the two lists Recommended Médoc & Graves, and Recommended Right Bank, which we will add to as more wines are released.