There was lots of extract and sweet ripe fruit on display from the nine wines from Pessac-Léognan in 2018 at the MW Institute tasting in late 2022. A few felt a little lacking acidity. This was definitely not the case for Château La Mission Haut-Brion, which even eclipsed the thrilling wine made at sibling Château Haut Brion. Both are outstanding. I was very impressed with a brilliant Domaine de Chevalier and a typically flamboyant Château Pape Clément. Château Malartic Lagravière balanced the ripeness with the freshness and felt complete. The usually knock out Château Smith Haut Lafitte seemed to lack a bit of zip on the end, though it was decadently lush and layered on the palate. Château de Fieuzal felt a somewhat stewed and lacking freshness, while Château Bouscaut was ripe and caressing. Château Oliver was sturdy with a tannic chunky finish.

There are lots of great wines in Pessac-Léognan in the 2016 vintage. You’d expect superlative efforts from the likes of Château Haut-Brion and Château La Mission Haut-Brion. But there are also magnificent wines from the appellation’s defacto first growths Château Haut-Bailly and Château Smith Haut Lafitte. Brilliant, yet contrasting red wines have been made here. Fractionally outside this club, but only fractionally, is Domaine de Chevalier. Year in, year out this is one of the highest quality, dependable but won’t [entirely] ‘break-the-bank’ reds in all of Bordeaux. Fine wines have also been made at Château Bouscaut, Château Fieuzal, Château Malartic Lagravière. Château Latour Martillac is drinking well, already offering textbook earthy Graves. That said, overall, at the top level these are still wines that need another two or three years in bottle to get really into gear. In some senses a few have crept into their shells since earlier tastings. These will improve further in complexity over the next decade and expect them to last well into the middle of the century.

I’m publishing these in-depth notes somewhat belatedly. I have already posted last April briefly about the quality of the dry whites and the structured reds made in 2017 at Château La Mission Haut-Brion and Château Haut-Brion. Today I’m publishing more detailed notes and thoughts on the wines. The top line? 2017 is a genuinely ‘epic’ year for the whites here. Even by their own sensational quality, La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc and Haut-Brion Blanc are super sublime.

Many of the red wines tasted during my visit to Bordeaux this April had freshness, engaging aromas, juicy fruit flavours, reasonable depth and generally soft tannins. On this basis 2017 is surely a good vintage? Well yes. For the best properties we’re talking of wines with elements of 2014, 2012 and 2008, possibly a combination of all three in certain places. Things are more exciting for the whites [it looks to be a brilliant year] and Sauternes too has excelled again. But these generalisations hide a somewhat heterogeneous vintage.