There are a number of properties in Bordeaux which offer striking value for the quality. St Emilion Grand Cru Classé Château Laroque is most definitely one of them. It has heritage and fabulous limestone terroir high up in St Emilion. It is also a substantial property with over 61 hectares planted. It has been well looked after by the Beaumartin family since the 1930s. So far, so good. But it has been the arrival of winemaker David Suire that has been the catalyst for this property to hit the big time, qualitatively speaking. Fortunately, the prices have still yet to catch up. While Château Laroque is perhaps no longer an insider’s secret, thanks to sensible pricing here this certainly remains a property to follow. The 2020 is another significant wine. Qualitatively it is up there with the impressive wines fashioned in 2019 and 2018. Laroque is an exciting 2020 indeed.

In early October I had the opportunity to taste a set of wines spanning the last decade from the Médoc property Château Loudenne with General Manager Philippe de Poyferré. I’ve been particularly struck by the quality of the wines here in recent years at tastings in Bordeaux. This was a chance to look at the wines in detail, following significant investments in the estate over the last six years, after it came into new ownership in 2013. It’s a property I’m familiar with. A good friend of mine from university worked at Loudenne in the early 1990s. He shared bottles from the 1989 and 1990 vintages, which I remember showing plenty of extract and structure. More recently the Loudenne 2014 and 2015 vintages caught my eye during primeurs visits and this year again, with an exciting 2019.

Well there is no doubting the richness of Château Calon Ségur in 2019. They have produced another profound St Estèphe to rival 2018 here. For me that remarkable wine still pips this 2019, but only just. Château Calon Ségur is decadent, verging on the unctuous in 2019. It displays beautiful blackcurrant and violent scented fruit and there is a boatload of ripe extract and tannin here too. The 2018 felt a fraction more nimble from memory, but I’d really like to see these two vintages side by side when there bottled. Obviously 2019 is a terrific wine regardless of the comparison. Both Le Marquis de Calon Ségur and Château Capbern weigh in at a heady 15.1% alcohol. Le Marquis impressed much more. It has plenty of rich fruit and volume and feels decadent almost.

The wines at Cos are characterised by exceptional balance and purity in 2019. The reds are very impressive indeed. Château Cos d’Estournel itself is fabulous, with real precision and focus. It displays great length and the tannins are super refined, with impressive texture. This is a St Estèphe that is evidently nudging perfection. Pagodes de Cos has lively plum and black cherry fruit tones and shows much refinement. The whites too look very good. They are more full-bodied than usual and weigh in at 14.4% alcohol – fractionally above the reds – but still retain freshness. This is the fifteenth white wine vintage here, and Cos blanc comes from a set of vineyards adjacent to the Gironde in the Médoc. Talking of Médoc, 2019 is also a very good vintage for Goulée. It is positive and energetic with a distinctively silky aspect. Overall bravo to Michel Reybier and his team led by technical director Dominque Arangoits.