Domaine Du Pas Saint Martin
Château Montrose
Saint-Estèphe Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2018
The 2018 Montrose delivers on the promise that it showed from barrel. I gave this a three-hour decant before broaching, since Montrose is always backward, albeit far less ferociously than even just a decade ago. It offers copious blackberry and blueberry scents on the nose, plus pressed violets and a light estuarine scent that becomes accentuated with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a silky-smooth texture. Finely chiseled tannins frame multilayered black fruit infused with crushed stone, and it has retained that subtle graphite element that lends it a Pauillac-like personality, though less so than out of barrel. This is a beautifully defined Montrose with entrancing symmetry, and it should drink earlier than other recent vintages thanks to a little more pliancy. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2021)
— 4 years ago
Château Gruaud Larose
Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1986
Dernière bouteille... ce n’est pas la plus belle. Nous sommes clairement dans sa phase tertiaire avec du cuir, graphite, sous-bois. Par contre je trouve qu’il a un léger creux en milieu de bouche, que le vin manque de profondeur à ce moment. — 4 years ago
Château Canon
Saint-Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 2015
The 2015 Canon has a tightly wound bouquet with mineral rich black fruit, raspberry coulis, rose
petal and desiccated orange peel. It takes time to come together, but it does. The palate is well defined, very focused with fine minerality. This is discreet but beautifully balanced, clean and precise with a sense of energy and precision on the finish. It is less showy than its peers at the moment, which
explains why I am more parsimonious with my score. Yet the potential is locked inside this wine and it will aspire toward perfection with a decade in bottle.Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, July 2019) — 6 years ago
Château Canon-la-Gaffelière
Saint-Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 1958
Ancient vintages of this Saint-Émilion have a tendency to impress and the 1958 Canon-la-Gaffelière is no different. Quite pale in colour, it has a wonderful, heart-warming bouquet with red cherry, strawberry and burning embers/ash-like aromas. It is clean and well-defined. The palate is medium-bodied with surprising fruit concentration, harmonious and gentle, the acidity pitch perfect. Whilst not a complex wine it has a sense of purity that catches you off guard. I love the piquancy on the finish. Wonderful. Tasted at the Académie du Vin dinner. (Neal Martin, Vinous, May 2018 — 7 years ago
Château Barde-Haut
Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2019
The 2019 Barde-Haut is beautifully defined on the nose, very pure with precise blackberry, briary, violets and iris flower, harmonious. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiseled tannins, cohesive and mineral-driven; the terroir is very expressive towards the finish that lingers in the mouth. Wonderful, assured and with great potential. Tasted at the Barde-Haut vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, June 2022)
— 3 years ago
Domaine Dujac
Morey Saint-Denis 1er Cru Pinot Noir 2017
The 2017 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru is showing a little reduction on the nose; there’s some charry oak here, not quite as clean as its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, fine balance and finer tannins than Taupenot-Merme's La Riotte. This shows impressive delineation and elegance toward the finish, which is persistent and satisfying. An excellent Morey-Saint-Denis. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2017 tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, January 2022)
— 3 years ago
Château Langoa Barton
Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2002
Belle bouteille provenant d’un millésime que je n’affectionne pas particulièrement à Bordeaux. Assez classique, très St-Julien, cassis, cerise noire, framboise, terreux et un peu animal. Dernière bouteille malheureusement... — 4 years ago
Château Pavie Macquin
Saint-Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 2011
Decanted 90 minutes. Very dark opaque colour. Nose with dark fruits, some black currant early on but some spices as well and some oak. Tasted blind the nose seems more CNP then Right Bank. Palate is dense, powerful, nice acidity in the middle, ripe fruit, volume and depth along with a delicious finish with a slight dryness. Very good but there is a little bit of warmth to it caused by alcohol that makes the whole balance very slightly out of sink with the rest. 90-91
Carafé 90 minutes. Couleur foncée et opaque. Fruits noirs, cassis aussi, du bois un peu. Fait plus CNP que Rive Droite au nez. Bouche délicieuse, puissante, dense, du volume, belle acidité en millieu de bouche, finale est assez longue, un peu asséchante et une touche alccoleuse qui affecte un peu l’équilibre d’ensemble. Très bien malgré tout, mais pas certain que ca deviendra grand. 90-91 — 5 years ago
Domaine Michel Gros
Fontaine Saint Martin Monopole Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Chardonnay
Outstanding. Richer style, balanced with freshness and verve. — 6 years ago
Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2005
The 2005 Ducru-Beaucaillou, tasted a dozen times since en primeur, was picked 21 September to 6 October, matured in 90% new oak for 18 months. It delivers a wall of black fruit on the nose that gradually opens up with aeration, touches of incense and wild mint, cedar coming through with time. But these aromatics remain very backward. The palate is medium-bodied with firm grippy tannins, fine acidity, solid and focused. Tremendously and uncompromisingly backward, this is a seriously fine Ducru-Beaucaillou that is just not yet ready, so go back to the cellar and leave it there for another five years. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, July 2022)
— 3 years ago
Château Cheval Blanc
St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 2018
When I tasted the 2018 Cheval Blanc from barrel, I felt that it deserved a very good score, though not one that implied potential perfection. The bottle was tasted upon opening, but I only began to pen my tasting note after 3–4 hours’ decanting. I still find the bouquet more open than many recent vintages, the ripe brambly red fruit intermingling with clove, sage and light graphite notes originating from the Cabernet components (46% of the final blend). It is a really seductive bouquet, though not as complex or as nuanced as, say, the astonishing 2016 or the impressive 2015. The palate is medium-bodied with refined tannins. A harmonious and elegant Cheval Blanc that has retained the linearity I remarked upon in barrel. So it is not a flamboyant Cheval Blanc like the Cabernet-dominated 2017, but it is a far better wine thanks to the Merlot imparting flesh and rondeur. The finish is extremely precise but never powerful, almost Burgundy-like in weight, with a lightly spiced aftertaste. As the hours pass in the decanter, it gains depth and a little more precision on the finish. This does not possess the otherworldly profundity to equal legends such as the 1934, 1964 or 2016; it is simply a wonderful Cheval Blanc to sit back and savor as a Saint-Émilion par excellence. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2021)
— 4 years ago
Château Cap Saint-Martin
Premières Côtes de Blaye Red Bordeaux Blend 2015
Ligero de cuerpo — 6 years ago
Cave de Roquebrun
Les Hauts de Saint Martin St. Chinian Red Blend 2017
Fantastic wine, earthy but with a long silky finish. £8.50 in Co-Op bargain — 6 years ago
Domaine de la Ferme Saint Martin
Costancia Beaumes-de-Venise Grenache Syrah 2015
Pretty intense — 7 years ago
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The 2004 Léoville-Poyferré has a light and airy bouquet with blackberry, antique bureau, forest floor and light fungal aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly dry tannins, a little austere but balanced, though I notice some attenuation and bitterness towards the finish. So-so for this estate. Tasted at the Léoville-Poyferré vertical at the château with Sara Lecompte Cuvelier. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022)
— 3 years ago