2014 Palmer, Lynch, Talbot, Cos, Haut-Brion, Baron, du Tertre

Despite the bank holidays both here and in France, it's been a busy few days since our offer last Wednesday. Soon after hitting send on that email came the release of Palmer. 2014 is the first fully biodynamic vintage, and has also seen a drastic reduction in the use of sulphur - to none whatsoever in the fermentation process. What's more, this is the 200th anniversary of the property being called Palmer. Praise from the critics is pretty much universal. For a quarter of the price, Alter Ego offers much more than a glimpse of its style but for earlier drinking.

Late on Wednesday came perennial favourite Lynch-Bages. With good marks from the critics and a price perceived to offer some value, trade was brisk, and we now have a little more stock available. For only slightly more than a quarter of the price, sister chateau Ormes de Pez is very strong in 2014. On Monday came Talbot. This former favourite of the UK is once again finding a few buyers, perhaps partly because it's become scarcer in the secondary market.

Yesterday's releases from Cos d'Estournel have failed to generate much excitement despite high scores from the critics. Later in the day, there was a warmer reception for Domaine Clarence Dillon. Neal Martin may have taken the baton from Robert Parker, but the power doesn't appear to have been transferred with it: La Mission emerges with a relatively modest release price despite being one of his highest-scoring reds of the vintage. Both it and Haut-Brion are finding buyers.

On to this morning. First came Petit Village and Pichon-Baron from our friend at AXA Millesimes, Christian Seely. Good though it is, for my money, in the 2014s, this particular Pichon is one to buy only if you want both of them. Under the direction of Alexander Van Beek, who's married to Veronique Sanders of Haut-Bailly, Giscours and du Tertre have been making steady progress. Of the two, the latter was our favourite this year. Sitting atop the highest point in Margaux, we learnt on our visit that it is the only property in the 1855 classification to still have exactly the same vineyard configuration. 40% of the vineyard is biodynamic with the rest in conversion. The result is a perfumed, mouthfilling claret with supple, woven tannins and gorgeous red fruit that is very good value. /AR