Overall St Emilion is something of a mixed bag in 2013. Quality is better than you might expect given the dreadful vintage, conditions that were especially tricky for Merlot, the district’s principal grape. It was badly affected by poor weather at flowering, which reduced yields and led to poor fruit set; later the humid conditions at vintage and the threat and rapid onset of rot [botrytis] also adversely affected the variety. Still St Emilion has made a number of attractive and well-made wines. But there are plenty of disappointments too. Some are thin and over-worked; others hollow. Quality follows terroir and those with cash. The best wines have forward and attractive fruit flavours and some are competitively priced. While it’s a complex picture, overall the wines of St Emilion are probably a more immediately appealing and joyous bunch than their left-bank counterparts in 2013.

It must be great to have a business card with Clos Fourtet on one side and Château Poujeaux on the other. Matthieu Cuvelier has. He and his father Philippe clearly have an eye for smart purchases. The family bagged Clos Fourtet in 2001 and Poujeaux in 2008. Neither were exactly in the doldrums at the time but both properties have perhaps since produced some of their finest wines under their new ownership. A visit during primeurs week in early April to taste the 2013 vintage also provided the opportunity to taste the Cuvelier’s most recent acquisitions, Château Côte de Baleau and Château de Grandes Murailles, as well as Clos St Martin, all St Emilion Grand Crus Classé.