Branaire, Grand Mayne, Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Labegorce, La Pointe, Talbot
A busy week on the Place de Bordeaux started off with the release of a monumental Grand-Puy-Lacoste, which Neal Martin scores as highly as its Pauillac peers Lafite, Mouton and Pichon. Talbot has been focussing hard on improving quality in recent vintages, and in 2022, it shows. Branaire-Ducru is exquisite - director Jean-Dominque Videau is not a man to talk in superlatives, but even he will admit it is 'probably' their best ever. In Margaux, the Perrodo family wines have won fans; Labegorce is 'utterly charming' (Neal Martin), and Marquis d'Alesme has 'stunning depths' (Jane Anson).
It was no less busy on the right bank. At Grand Mayne, Jean-Antoine Nony feared that hot, dry 2022 would result in unbalanced wine, but when he got the juice into the vat he was astonished to find it was 'crazy good'. 'It's something I can't explain,' he says - but it's a story we heard time and again when we visited Bordeaux in April. It's also worth noting we have good stock of Jean-Antoine's excellent 2019. And the Durantou wines Saintayme (St-Emilion), Les Cruzelles (Lalande-de-Pomerol) and Montlandrie (Castillon) are rightly regarded as some of the best value wines in Bordeaux.
One of our biggest discoveries was in Pomerol. After being dismissed for decades, 15 years of hard work in the vineyards have completely turned La Pointe around. We were seduced by 2022 La Pointe: sweet, succulent and elegant. It is hard to imagine finding better value in Pomerol. /NT
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Offered subject to remaining unsold; for shipment Spring 2025
