Château Calon Ségur is one of my favourite properties in Bordeaux. This is exceptional terroir in St Estèphe produces some of the finest and most classical claret. Regularly the château pulls a rabbit out of the hat in tricky vintages – it made a good fist of things in 2011 and in 2013. In good vintages like 2012 and 2014 it really excelled. For me 2009 and 2010 show the heights this property can command, two stand-out wines, easily of first growth quality. So what of Calon in 2015? It is not as immediately powerful as the 2014, but shows attractive texture and balance. It is defined by beautiful Cabernet fruit tones and should fill out further during elévage.

Cabernet Sauvignon doesn’t find any more complete an expression than at Château Latour, conjured from its unique terroir adjacent to the Gironde on Pauillac’s southern border with St Julien. Although Latour no longer releases wine to sell en primeur, it still shows samples of the previous vintage each April, along with the wines the château is currently releasing. This year was the mouthwatering prospect of the 2010 Pauillac de Latour, Les Forts de Latour 2009 and Château Latour 2000 [pictured] – a cross section of perhaps the finest ever recent vintages for this property. In this formidable company the 2015 made a good impression, despite the vagaries of the weather in September here in the northern left bank. 2015 Latour has plenty of extract but displays wonderful harmony and the flattering aromatic qualities that mark this vintage.

Château Lafite-Rothschild can be the most enigmatic of the Pauillac first growths. Certain vintages, like 2009 and 2010, are knockout from the off. But some vintages are not easy to judge young. Lafite 2015, was reticent when I tasted it in April. It exhibited elegance and composure for sure, but it was far less assertive in comparison with wines from other top properties tasted on the same day. Lafite has received glowing reviews elsewhere, I should point out, so you might wish to flag my notes as outsider scores. I also found the samples of Carruades and Château Duhart Milon elegant and lacking concentration. I’d expect all these samples to gain weight during elévage, but let’s just say they were the least expressive wines among Pauillac‘s top tier that I tasted.

Bruno Borie has presided over a bevy of excellent wines from the Ducru stable in 2015. All show vivacious beauty this year. The fruit tones are seductive and delicious. Across the board the wines show harmony and balance. It kick’s off with a vibrant Château Lalande-Borie, followed by a gloriously perfumed La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou. The Château Ducru-Beaucaillou grand vin looks exceptional. This is an almost entirely Cabernet Sauvignon blend [95%] and shows just how voluptuous this variety can be in the right hands, from the right terroir, in the right year. 2015 is definitely an exciting vintage here, and not a million miles from the great successes of 2009 and 2010.