Château Angélus is surely one of the wines of the 2015 vintage. It combines beauty and lush extravagance with a degree of freshness which is wonderfully exciting. It was among the most attractive wines I tasted during primeurs week. It confirms the beauty of this vintage here in St Emilion at the top level. The fruit tones are delicious and the balance is there. The question is whether we will be able to afford the wine. Le Carillon d’Angélus is a little firmer [partly the extra Cabernet in the blend] but it is very good. St Emilion Grand Crus Château Daugay and Château Roc de Boisseaux, properties with connections to the de Boüard family, are forward, precocious and enjoyable. I’ll discuss their Lalande de Pomerol, La Fleur de Boüard in a separate post [it is yet another beauty].  

It’s usually a treat in Jean-Luc Thunevin’s speakeasy cellars, a kind of laid-back hedonistic chaos in St Emilion’s backstreets. Not this year. I was late. My fault trying to cram in too many wines into a shorter schedule. And that evening Jean-Luc seemed in no mood for latecomers. So far, not so good. I quickly worked through the wines. They display his typical brilliance. Thunevin’s pulled a rabbit out of a hat in the last few vintages [including some of the very best 2013s] but give him an exciting year like 2015 on the right bank and he hits the ball out of the park. Château Valandraud is epic this year – it is a wine of extraordinary depth and richness. Do also check out his St Emilion Grand Crus Clos Badon and Château Le Bel Air Ouÿ – the former lush and concentrated, the latter fresh and bright.

Château Canon [and Château Rauzan-Ségla] appear to have found a great follow up act to John Kolasa in new general manager Nicolas Audebert. His arrival at both properties for the 2015 vintage has certainly been well timed. He’s managed to arrive in an excellent vintage, to work some of the finest terroir in the world, in a vintage that has specifically favoured both St Emilion and Margaux. Lucky man. The Gods are certainly smiling on him and the properties [and clearly the Wertheimers too, who own them and fashion house Chanel]. Château Canon 2015 is a beauty. It is a wine with finesse and power but also with the most gorgeous, bright fruit tones, tones that define this vintage. Croix Canon, which comes from an 11ha parcel all of its own, is harmonious and extremely pretty at 2015.

There is usually a silky quality to Count Stephan von Neipperg’s St Emilions. This quality is really underscored in the 2015 vintage. These are beautiful wines, deceptively easy but with wonderful beauty. Clos de L’Oratoire is seductive and ripe; Château Canon-la-Gaffelière more substantial [45% Cabernets] but with remarkably supple, glossy fruit. La Mondotte is heavenly. Again these are amongst some of the finest wines I have yet tried from these Neipperg-owned properties. There is a delicacy in 2015 not found in either the powerful 2010s or the opulent 2009s here.