Following last week's public holidays in France, the 2012 campaign stumbled back into action this morning with the release of Pichon-Longueville. Someone at AXA Millésimes thinks this is at least the equal of Pontet-Canet but the market reaction so far today suggests otherwise. We heard that close neighbour Pichon Lalande had in mind a substantially lower price so it will be interesting to see...

By contrast, Clos Fourtet is already selling well. At a recent Cheval Blanc tasting Technical Director Pierre-Olivier Clouet revealed the benchmarks by which they judge their own performance. Their reference point for Merlot is Clos Fourtet. The 2012 looks set to be a star of the vintage once again, and is perhaps the best buy in St-Emilion.

'The 2012 Clos Fourtet was cropped at 32 hectoliters per hectare and achieved 14% natural alcohol. The final blend was 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc. It offers an opaque dense purple color along with attractive blackberry, licorice, truffle and cassis fruit notes. It is full-bodied and dense with an authoritative mid-palate, sweet tannin and a layered mouthfeel that builds incrementally into a stunningly long finish. Precocious and charming already, it will drink better at an earlier age than the massive, prodigious 2009. Drink this killer St-Emilion over the next 15+ years. 93-95 points.' - Robert Parker, erobertparker.com

Smith-Haut-Lafitte once again vies for the top spot in Léognan, an area which enjoyed considerable success in both reds and whites. Like the critics, we failed to reach a consensus on whether we preferred this or rivals Domaine de Chevalier or Haut-Bailly. /AR

Offered subject to availability for shipment spring 2015

Halves & magnums £10 extra per 9 litre case; other formats on request