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 But this Fifth Growth is a member of the elite club of Super Seconds, those chateaux that capture how out-of-date some aspects of the 1855 classification has become.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.