Day three on primeurs week saw me start off in Margaux with an early morning tasting with Thomas Duroux at Château Palmer. There is great depth to Palmer in 2015. It looks to be an exciting vintage in the appellation. Though there is some variation in experience, Margaux, overall, had less of the September rain that dampened things further up the Haut-Médoc. An emotional trip to Château Margaux then beckoned. This was the first primeurs tasting in the château’s new Norman Foster designed chais and winemaking facility. Obviously it was also the first primeurs for thirty years or more unaccompanied by Paul Pontallier. It was an emotional experience. All the things he had worked for at Margaux had come true – an impressive new cellar and a beautiful wine in 2015 – a fitting epitaph for a fine man.

Fans of the sturdy and ambitious wines of Moulis and Listrac will have a lot to enjoy in 2014. This is undoubtedly the best vintage here since 2010. As usual there is a lot of freshness to the wines, but in most cases the fruit is genuinely ripe and the tannins well handled. Château Poujeaux once again leads the field. It has produced an impressive wine of depth and polish. Do look out for the excellent effort from Château Maucaillou and good wine has also been made at Chateau Anthonic. Château Chasse-Spleen is fresh and elegant, though it needs to fill out. In Listrac, Château Fourcas Hosten and Château Fourcas Dupré look very good as usual, and there is an excellent effort from Château Clarke.

Moulis and Listrac are two of my favourite appellations in Bordeaux for value. The wines have a reputation for being full-flavoured and gutsy but the top wines have as much finesse as the Haut-Médoc classed growths. 2012 looks to have produced good wines in these districts. Though they are not the show-stoppers of 2009 and 2010, they seem to have more harmony than 2007, 2011 and 2013 and are more forward and immediately enjoyable than 2008 was at the same stage. The stand-out for me this year across both appellations was Château Maucaillou which has produced a delicious wine. Château Poujeaux, Château Fourcas Hosten and Château Fourcas Dupré also look successful in 2012.

As you’d expect in a vintage like 2013 Moulis and Listrac have produced a sappy, chewy bunch of wines. In Moulis, Château Poujeaux is elegant and attractive, with Château Chasse-Spleen seemingly leaner and a fraction austere. Château Fourcas Dupré looked the pick of the wines from Listrac. It has some sweetness and generosity on the mid-palate and is a whisker out in front of its chief competitors, Château Fourcas Hosten and Château Clarke.