The UK's biggest buyer of classed growth Bordeaux pleaded yesterday for the campaign to be slowed down but their calls went unheeded; the releases kept on coming. Sometimes, it pays to be small. In all, 22 significant wines, the same number as Monday. Here are our favourites among yesterday's wines.
de Fieuzal Rouge: 'Beautiful rich garnet hue. Smokey nose of ripe fruit. Smooth and deliciously tasty, soft yet substantial, laced with well-coated and fat tannins through to the lovely finish where cherry and liquorice come to the fore in the persistence. Lovely wine of finesse. 87-88 points.' - Jean-Marc Quarin, quarin.com
Langoa Barton: 'The Langoa Barton is a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc cropped at 36hl/ha cropped between 12th and 23rd September. It has a very pure lifted bouquet with fine delineation. It is very feminine with hints of blueberry and cassis just in the background, but there is nice minerality coming through. The palate is rounded on the entry with crisp acidity, hints of pain grille inflecting the black fruit with a seam of graphite on the finish. 91-93 points.' - Neal Martin, erobertparker.com/winejournal
Montrose: 'In difficult years, a combination of a great terroir and talented winemaking often comes to the fore, and that's what happened at Montrose in 2011. Rose petal, tar and liquorice on the nose, leading you into a wine that is bold and powerful, yet beautifully balanced, with layer upon layer of graphite, dark plums, toasty oak and sweet blackcurrant fruit. One of the wines of the vintage, this is a triumph over adversity. 20+ years. 97 points.' - Tim Atkin MW, timatkin.com
And Tim's wine of the vintage: 'Jean-Philippe Delmas says his wine is a cross between 2008 and 2001, but it's surely better than that. Not everyone agrees, but to me this is the red wine of the vintage: a classic Haut-Brion with structure, restraint, savoury tannins, strawberry and plum skin fruit characters, palate-cleansing freshness and delightful harmony and balance. The shorter macerations and gentle extraction of tannins, not to mention the work in the vineyard and on the sorting table, paid off. 15+ years. 98 points.'
Tomorrow's France's third May bank holiday (one more still to go) so a brief respite beckons. There'll be time for the industry behemoths to catch up. /AR
Halves & magnums £10 extra per 9 litre case; other formats on request
