CHÂTEAU L'IF

Vibrancy and luscious fruit, there is juice here but it feels sinewy, bound up in the structure and tannins, has a feeling of energy, salinity, it's mouthwatering and determined to make you smile. 50% new oak, harvest September 18 to October 2. First year with the new cellar, 40hl/h yield, no mildew issues here, 50% new oak for ageing. 3.37ph, Drinking range: 2027 - 2037 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (May 2024)

The 2023 L’If is unusually floral and refined for a wine that has, in the past, been darker and more ample in structure. Cedar, tobacco, crushed flowers and mint add lift and aromatic presence. Silky tannins create an impression of finesse. The 2023 represents the first year of vinification in the new cellar outfitted with cement vats. Overall, though, this wine feels like a new chapter for L'If. The vibrancy and energy here are palpable. Tasted two times. Drinking range: 2030 - 2048 Rating: 94-96 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (May 2024)

The blend is 80% and 20% Cabernet Franc, the Merlot harvest having started September 18th, the Cabernet Franc was picked on October 2nd. This is the first vintage made in the estate’s new cellars, on the corner of the road just below Troplong-Mondot. It takes fruit from about half the vineyard, from vines on more clay and limestone, while fruit from the more colluvial soils goes into the second wine. It has an explosively aromatic nose, with fragrant black cherry and plum, scented with violets and white peach, dusted with crushed chalk. The linearity of the vintage comes across on the palate, which feels cool and dense, with a precisely drawn core of red cherry and rose petal fruits to the fore, followed by a growing core of tannins, rich but well knit together and ripe. A very smart L’If this year, melding the precision of the year with dense limestone tannins, before it finishes long, with a flourish of fresh cherry. Fine potential. The alcohol is about 14%. Rating: 93-95 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2024)