Angludet is many people’s touchstone Margaux, unforced and perfumed. It is a former Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, though the Sichel family who own it no longer choose to present it to the Cru Bourgeois classification. The chateau is set in a bucolic stretch of south-west Margaux, 3 kilometres inland from the river. It owes its roots to a 12th century knight, Bertrand of Angludet, who build his house here. Vines were probably first planted in the 17th century. It looked like that was finally over after the great frost of 1956, when the extreme winter cold killed most of the vines.

It all began in 2006, when the Asseily family were captivated by the charm of then-neglected Chateau Biac. They call themselves ‘accidental’ winemakers. You might say their decision to throw over their lives and go to Bordeaux to make wine was impulsive. But the amount of work they have put in, the seriousness which they have undertaken it, and the sheer gusto with which they have thrown themselves up a forbiddingly steep learning curve are a wonder to behold. And all this work and all the learning are bearing fruit in the soaring quality of the wines.

Biac is a remarkable place.

Branaire-Ducru was born in 1680. Prior to that, it had been part of the much larger Beychevelle estate. That estate was broken up to settle debts, and several smaller estates emerged. One was acquired by a Jean-Baptiste Braneyre, who gave his surname to it, but it would take another 200 years before a subsequent owner appended his own surname ‘Ducru’. By the early 20th century, this was a neglected, run-down property. Corporate investors stepped in after World War II; in 1988, a whole new era began when Patrick Maroteaux bought Branaire and invested time, money and energy improving it.

‘I make my wine at Lafite and Latour, but my heart is in Calon.’ The legend is that the Marquis de Segur, who owned all three of these properties, uttered these words in the eighteenth century and inspired the heart-shaped logo on bottles of Calon-Segur ever after. The good Marquis gave Calon-Segur half its name, but the other half had been around for quite some time. The estate was recorded as being in the hands of one Monseigneur de Calon, Bishop of Poitiers, in 1157. In other words, Calon-Segur, by the standards of the Medoc and St-Estephe in particular, is ancient.

This fifth growth is one of the very few classed growths from outside the four classic communes of the Medoc. In fact, it barely made it into the 1855 classification at all. The redoubtable then owner Caroline de Villeneuve was incensed to discover that the brokers and negociants she had trusted to manage Cantemerle had neglected to see it included in the classification. She marched down to the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce armed with 40 years’ worth of receipts and commercial documents to prove the prices it was fetching (that being the basic criterion for inclusion).

There has been no more striking Bordeaux success story over the last decade than the soaring profile of Carmes Haut-Brion. Carmes is a small property on superb terroir within the Bordeaux city limits, near Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. It was owned by Carmelite friars (hence ‘Carmes’) until the French revolution. For the next 230 years it passed quietly through various branches of the Chantecailles-Furt family, until the modern era arrived dramatically in 2011 when it was acquired by real estate investor Patrice Pichet.

In 2021, Chateau Cheval Blanc, along with Chateau Ausone, withdrew from the St-Emilion classification. These chateaux alleged doubts about the criteria for (re)classification, citing a drift away from the pre-eminence on terroir towards a focus on marketing considerations. Some critics implied they were miffed by the prospect of having to share their exalted ‘Premier Grand Cru Classe A’ status with more chateau (it had been their exclusive preserve prior to the 2012 promotion of Pavie and Angelus).

Vines first went into the ground at Clinet in 1758, making it one of Pomerol’s oldest estates. By the early nineteenth century, with vineyards proliferating, Clinet was regarded as one of the very best. Fast forward to the late 1970s, when Estate Manager Jean-Michel Arcaute arrived here. In his determination to restore Clinet to its nineteenth century glory, he completely reformed vineyard practise here – and a lot of Bordeaux began to follow. In came leaf thinning and green harvesting. Out went machine harvesting, to ensure only the best grapes were picked.

The 70 hectares of vineyard at de Fieuzal make this one of the largest estates in Pessac, on land to the south of the town of Leognan. The vineyards are neatly divided by the Eau Blanche stream into two parts, one gravelly, one on clay-limestone. The stream itself provides much needed moisture in hot vintages. For red, the vineyards are planted to 50% Cabernet Sauvignon/37% Merlot/8% Petit Verdot/5% Cabernet Franc. But this being Pessac, there is also an excellent white wine, with 10 hectares in the coolest spots of the vineyard given over to equal amounts of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

Duhart-Milon is a stablemate of Lafite. The vineyards are adjacent, with the same fine gravels and black sands over a bedrock of limestone, but Duhart lies on lower ground with a more northerly exposure. Once upon a time, it was made as the second wine of Lafite, and for even longer it remained in Lafite`s shadow. But it has evolved an identity all its own, under its own technical team since 2001, and it has gone from strength to strength over the last two decades. It used to be marked by a certain youthful austerity, but is typically richer these days.

A visit to Feytit-Clinet is so unlike a visit to most Bordeaux chateaux. It’s not a castle or a stately home, nor are you filtered past receptionists or along mirrored halls. In fact, it’s much more like a visit to Burgundy where the owner stomps out from round the back in welly boots, kicking their kids` toys out of the way as they go. Jeremy Chasseuil lives and works here, and has done since the year 2000 when he took over.

Pomerol estate Gazin has a full 19 hectares of vines on the plateau, more than any other winery in the appellation, all in one single block. It also commands the appellation’s highest point, next to Petrus, at just over 40 metres. The vineyard is planted to 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc, though the proportion of Cabernets is set to increase in response to climate change. (NT 12/05/25)

The vineyards of St-Emilion property Grand Mayne lie in one single block around the rather stately manor house of a chateau, on the slopes leading up to the western flank of the town. Jean-Antoine Nony has been full-time director here since 2012, and improving the vineyards has been his mission ever since. One of his first decisions was to begin a slow replanting programme, with the ultimate goal of bringing the proportion of Cabernet Franc in the vineyards back up to the 35% it was in 1934, when his grandfather acquired the property.

Of the two Pauillac properties whose names begin Grand-Puy, it is Grand-Puy-Lacoste that enjoys rather more prestige over Grand-Puy-Ducasse. Turn the clock back to the 1855 classification of the Medoc, though, and they were the same property, Grand Puy. It was awarded fifth-growth status, a distinction both the successor chateaux still hold. But that feels like a sad undervaluing of Grand-Puy-Lacoste, a property that regularly puts many second-growths to shame.

At one of Pauillac’s highest spots, with plots next to Latour (overlooking the Gironde) and to Pichon-Baron (on the Bages plateau), Haut-Bages Liberal has always enjoyed great terroir. But even that is not enough to explain the quality of recent vintages here. Jane Anson calls owner Claire Villars ‘one of the most exciting winemakers in Bordeaux’, and the work that Claire has been doing here is remarkable. She has completely transitioned the estate to biodynamic viticulture.

In 1942, the Batailley estate was divided into two, so that two brothers could each have their own part. One half continued under the name Batailley, and the other (smaller) part was re-christened Haut-Batailley. Like Batailley itself, Haut-Batailley is a fifth growth under the terms of the 1855 classification, as a continuation of an 1855 classified estate. For decades, it was ably managed (but not owned) by Francois-Xavier Borie (who owns Grand-Puy-Lacoste), and in 2006 he began a huge renovation of the wine-making facilities and cellars.

In the 1855 classification of the Medoc, one wine that was not from the Medoc but rather Pessac was also admitted; Haut -Brion. Its Pessac neighbour La Mission Haut-Brion was not granted a similar special admission. Yet if any wine from Pessac also deserves first growth status, it is La Mission Haut-Brion.

Few Bordeaux chateaux are more associated with a particular colour than St-Estephe fourth growth Lafon-Rochet; both the chateau itself and the label on the bottle are a bright shade of yellow. (It’s worth noting, though, that over in Pomerol Vieux Chateau Certan does own pink). Lafon-Rochet began as an aristocratic home and estate, though (unlike many chateaux) it was not confiscated during the Revolution. The modern world arrived in 1959, when chateau and estate were purchased by the Tesseron family.

No Bordeaux classed growth has been in the hands of the same family longer than Langoa Barton; it was purchased by Thomas Barton in 1821. Of course, Leoville Barton followed into the family stable soon after, and both properties are now on their eighth generation of Bartons, with Damien Barton now working beside his sister Melanie and their mother Lilian. The two properties are inevitably defined against each other. The Leoville Barton vineyards lie in the north of St-Julien, between the chateau and the river.

One might expect the three Leoville siblings - Leoville-Poyferre, Leoville-Las Cases and Leoville-Barton - to make broadly similar wines. After all, they are neighbouring estates, all in St Julien, all classified as second growths in 1855, and all once part of the very same estate, Leoville, until debt and Napoleonic-era turbulence sundered them. But with different owners and winemakers at each, they can produce radically different wines.

The Leoville plateau has long been recognised as one of the best spots in Bordeaux for producing long-lived, complex, powerful wines. Once upon a time, it was a unitary estate, for a while owned by the Marquis de Las Cases. Then came the revolution, and the estate was seized, and split into three parts, later identified as Las Cases, Barton and Poyferre. Las Cases has the heart of the old estate, the Grand Clos, which sits on gravel soils up to ten metres deep.

Among a certain generation Chateau Lynch-Bages used to be known affectionately as `lunch bags` on the grounds that it was cheap enough to go in one`s lunch bag. Sadly, it is no longer that cheap. (Your lunch bag may vary). But this Fifth Growth is a member of the elite club of Super Seconds, those chateaux that capture how out-of-date some aspects of the 1855 classification has become. It is also quintessential Pauillac, with a high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon and all the gravel, smoke, cedar and cassis one expects in an absolutely classic left-bank Claret.

Before there were vines on the slope that now marks the vineyards of Montrose, there was heather. And at the right time of year, the hillside turned pink with heather flowers. Hence, Montrose – ‘mont rose’, ‘the pink slope’. Vines did not arrive here till the early 19th century, which makes Montrose one of the youngest classed growths. Yet it is also one of the best. It is often thought of as the first growth of St-Estephe, and frequently vies for the title of wine of the vintage.

Pichon Lalande is easily one of the greatest wines of the Medoc, frequently vying with and sometimes exceeding the first growths in quality. It has its roots in the Pichon estate, which was split in 1850 into the two parts thereafter known as Pichon Baron and Pichon Lalande. From 1978 until 2007, Pichon Lalande was owned and managed by the redoubtable May Eliane de Lencquesaing. A powerful ambassador for Bordeaux worldwide, she oversaw many great vintages, the expansion of the vineyard and the rising profile of Pichon Lalande.

A powerful trend-setter, pioneering in its early adoption of biodynamics, over the last twenty years Fifth Growth Pontet-Canet has soared into the league of Super Seconds. Alfred Tesseron and Estate Director Jean-Michel Comme have unlocked the potential of this chateau whose vineyards abut those of Mouton-Rothschild, and the wines of Pontet-Canet demand serious respect, and time in your cellar.

The name Chateau Talbot evokes a poignant moment in Bordeaux history. In the 15th century, the estate was the property of one John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and Governor of Acquitaine. He led the English charge at the 1453 Battle of Castillon, in what would prove to be the final engagement of the Hundred Years’ War. The charge failed, and Talbot was finished off by a French soldier with a battleaxe. After 340 years of English rule, Bordeaux was back in the hands of the French, there to remain. But the French seemed to grudgingly admire him, and Chateau Talbot retains his name to this day.

It’s got a 12th century tower, and it’s near the village of Martillac – the name of this Pessac property is virtually the address. This being Pessac, there’s both a red and white wine. The red vines are mostly planted across the gravelly soils of the Martillac plateau, while the white vines and the Merlot are planted across a clay-limestone outcrop. In reds, the vineyard is split 55% Cabernet Sauvignon/40% Merlot/5% Petit Verdot, and in whites 60% Sauvignon Blanc/40% Semillon. There are some venerable Semillon vines that date all the way back to 1884.

The Cotes de Castillon lies on the eastward extension of the plateau underpinning St-Emilion. The soils in the area are mixed, but the high concentration of clay and limestone around what was then called Chateau Goubau caught the eye of none other than Jacques Thienpont, owner of Le Pin and L’If. ‘These soils keeps the roots of the vines cool, so the wines are fresh,’ says Jacques. When Chateau Goubau came up for sale, Jacques and his sister Anne de Raeymaeker pounced, and purchased it. Their first vintage was 2016. He named it L`Hetre, continuing his `family tree` motif.