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.

Château La Louvière Blanc 2010, Pessac-Léognan, was one of the highlights of a tasting with family and friends last night, reports David Rowe from Bordeaux. The colour is definitely straw, rather than the “pale straw” description we use so often for younger Bordeaux whites. But the remarkable freshness of peach and apricot fruit on the nose belies the age of the wine and promises interesting possibilities for future development in bottle.