Tasting Notes :
Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Lalande-Borie gives up exuberant notes of baked raspberries, chocolate-covered cherries and mulberries with wafts of black currant pastilles, dried roses and dusty soil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a good amount of juicy, expressive fruit with a chewy texture and lively acidity, finishing on a stewed tea note. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
A sleeper of the vintage, the 2008 exhibits a dense plum/purple color along with loads of sweet berry fruit, black cherries, licorice and camphor intermixed with hints of mocha and oak. Reminiscent of La Lagune, the texture is plush, round, generous and irresistible. Drink this pure, impressively endowed 2008 over the next 10-14 years. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
A fabulous sleeper of the vintage, this estate, which has made a succession of brilliant wines under the administration of Bordeaux’s visionary Bernard Magrez, has turned out another terrific effort. A blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this wine exhibits a sensational smorgasbord of aromas ranging from red and black fruits to toasty oak to licorice, high quality cigar tobacco, and spice box. Flavorful and full-bodied, with rich fruit, moderate but sweet tannin, and a long, pure finish, this is a dazzling effort in 2006 that should hit its adolescent stage in about 4-5 years and last for two decades. Excellent value. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
Now a completely separate entity from Leoville Las Cases, Clos du Marquis is produced from Las Cases vineyards, but only from those that are outside the famous walled sector (referred to as Le Clos), which are reserved for Leoville Las Cases. The 2011 Clos du Marquis, which is meant to compete with second growths, possesses a dark ruby/plum color along with classic black cherry and black currant fruit intermixed with hints of minerality and spice. This pure, medium-bodied, well-endowed beauty can be drunk over the next 10-15 years. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
Medium to deep garnet in color, the 2013 Rauzan-Ségla gives up notes of warm plums, Morello cherries, cassis and espresso with hints of dried Provence herbs, woodsmoke and damp soil. Medium bodied, the palate gives lovely freshness and bags of earth-laced red and black fruits with a chewy texture and a lively herbal lift on the finish.

The blend this year is 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc, harvested between September 22nd and October 16th, at an average yield of 32 hectoliters per hectare. It was aged for 18 months in French oak, 60% new. The alcohol is 13.5%, and the pH is 3.5. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
The 2014 Malescot-St-Exupery has a clean, fresh and vibrant bouquet with blackberry, raspberry and cedar scents, a touch of graphite emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with supple red berry fruit laced with cedar and graphite. The acidity is well judged, that pencil lead note heightened towards the finish that demonstrates very fine persistence. I like the swagger and class of this Margaux and I can see this offering two decades of drinking pleasure. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 La Croix de Beaucaillou gives up aromas of cassis, earth, black plums, black cherries and mulberries with wafts of menthol, cigars and crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is lively and earthy with firm, grainy tannins, finishing long and mineral-laced. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
The 2014 Giscours has come on leaps and bounds since I tasted it twice in barrel. It is clearly more sophisticated and complex than the du Tertre on the nose. For a start, there is more fruit concentration with red cherries, raspberry and blackcurrant laced with cedar and graphite. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, pure red cherry and crushed strawberry fruit with a precise finish that the property never used to be able to offer. This is a lovely Margaux that should drink well for 20 years. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
The 2016 Reserve de la Comtesse is a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it leaps from the glass with beautiful kirsch, cassis and redcurrants with hints of red roses, black tea, black pepper, chocolate box and cloves. The palate is medium-bodied, very elegant and fresh with gorgeous silken tannins and loads of bright fruit, finishing spicy. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
The 2014 Reserve de Comtesse de Lalande has a very fresh and vibrant bouquet with lovely cedar-infused black fruit that sings of Pauillac-ness (apologies for the made-up word!). The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp and elegant with a keen line of acidity. This feels quite linear at the moment and perhaps the finish could have dealt more complexity commensurate with the aromatics. Yet there is bundles of freshness infused into this Deuxième Vin and there is a palpable salinity on the aftertaste. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Rauzan-Gassies rolls out of the glass with expressive notes of baked plums, warm cassis and kirsch plus wafts of cedar chest, oolong tea and lilac. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers loads of perfumed black berry flavors with a fine-grained texture and long, pure finish. Nice! (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
An attractive and seductive style of wine, the 2005 Réserve de la Comtesse has lots of black currant fruit, earth, spice and a touch of oak. It is easygoing, seductive, and best drunk over the next 7-8 years. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
The 2016 la Lagune has a medium garnet-purple color and nose of intense cassis, warm cherries, redcurrants and spice box with earth and bay leaves in the undercurrent. The medium-bodied, earth-laced palate is plush and lively, finishing long. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
I have always held up the 2010 La Pointe as one of the high points of recent vintages of this Pomerol estate. After five years in bottle, it has retained that quintessential Pomerol bouquet with black fruit laced with truffle and a touch of iron filings. The palate is still quite structured, although the tannins appear to have melted slightly since I last encountered it. It leads to an intense graphite finish that might lead you astray to the Left Bank, and the aftertaste remains long and satisfying. This is just a superb wine from Eric Monnoret that shows no signs of falling short of the promise that is has shown ever since I first tasted it in barrel. Tasted August 2017. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
Scented of crushed black raspberries, black cherries and currants with touches of herbs, garrigue and aniseed, the medium garnet-purple colored 2015 Talbot is medium-bodied and taut with firm, chewy tannins and an earthy finish. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown)

Tasting Notes :
This is the Right Bank outpost of the Delon family that also owns Leoville Las-Cases. While they have made major improvements to Nenin, I feel it still has a Medoc-like personality in spite of the fact it is about 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The 2011 Nenin displays an attractive, clean, raspberry and black currant-scented nose, good richness, and a Medoc-like firmness. It is a medium-bodied, pleasant 2011 to drink over the next 7-8 years. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
One of the oldest family-owned vineyards in St.-Emilion, La Gaffeliere has been owned by the same family since the 1400s. The 2011 performed slightly differently in multiple tastings, but overall, it appears to be an outstanding, elegant, restrained, somewhat austere, but impressively built wine. The final blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc produced nearly 5,000 cases from their 42+ acre vineyard. The wine exhibits lots of earthy, balsam, resiny notes interwoven with red and black currants, cedar and underbrush. This elegant, dense, medium to full-bodied St.-Emilion should drink nicely for 15-20 years. (Robert M. Parker, Jr.)

Tasting Notes :
The 2014 Grand-Puy-Lacoste has a much more approachable nose than usual, vibrant with red cherries, wild strawberry and cedar aromas, backed up with mineral-soaked blackberry fruit. This gathers momentum wonderfully in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. The acidity is very well judged with purity and elegance on the finish, if not the structure or backbone commonly found is very top vintages. I've been a bit conservative with my score at the moment, but I am sure it will prove its worth with 3-5 more years in bottle, hence the plus sign. One to watch. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
The 2015 La Croix de Beaucaillou is a blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. It has a floral note on the nose: small black cherries, blueberry and wilted violets, the last becoming more intense as the initially tight-fisted wine opens in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannin. There is very well-judged acidity and its texture is harmonious and silky smooth. The quality is loaded more in the mouth than on the nose at the moment, but it is a seriously classy "deuxième vin" that just needs a little more persistence on the finish. (Neal Martin)

Tasting Notes :
The 2014 La Croix de Beaucaillou has enjoyed a purple patch in recent vintages. The nose on the 2014 appeared to have closed down after bottling, but the quality is still tangible, almost sedate, but exquisitely defined tertiary red berry fruit gradually opens in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp and energetic, very focused with superb mineralité. There is just a mote of hardness and rigidity on the finish, but that will be abraded by bottle age (and this is one Deuxième Vin that benefits from bottle maturity). (Neal Martin)