Delicious drinking Clarets...

Stuart McCloskey "Stylish Sauternes from an outstanding vintage. At perfect maturity and awaiting the company of Stilton or Roquefort."

92 Points - Stuart McCloskey

Clearly, lacking the extravagance of the Grand Vin however, it’s difficult not to be impressed. Silky / supple tannins work harmoniously with the high quality fruit. Cabernet flavours dominate with blackberry leaf, cassis with a touch of cocoa coming through as the wine starts to reach its tenth birthday. Really delicious but does require 2-3 hours in a decanter.

92 Points - James Suckling

Love the aromas of toasted oak, lemon pie and cream. Full body, with intense tropical and citrus fruit flavors and a long, lightly oily and creamy finish. Fieuzal white may be coming back to its glory days from the 1980s? Best after 2013.

94+ Points - Robert Parker

An absolutely textbook great white Graves made from 85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Semillon and aged nine months on its lees, this is a prodigious effort displaying notes of white flowers, currants, honeyed citrus, fig, and crushed rocks. The wine is very pure, with full body and high acidity, in a backward, almost tannic style. Give this wine at least 8-10 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 30 years. Tasted Feb 2009

94 Points - Neal Martin

You cannot escape just how lovely this bouquet is. Touches of white flowers, vanilla pod, custard creme, mango and a touch of lime. Wonderful definition. The palate is medium-bodied, fine tannins, real depth of flavour here with the oak interwoven into the plush, oaky texture (showing less of the petrol aromas it exhibited at birth.) It will need time for that oak to subsume itself entirely, but it is a really beautiful Blanc '07.

92 Points - Stuart McCloskey

Grapefruit and citrus notes on the nose. Well-defined, intense and well-balanced palate with subtle mineral notes. Quite tight and defined with balance and length. Stony / mineral notes on the finish. Excellent quality and drinking perfectly now...

The selection process under proprietor Bruno Borie is so severe at Ducru Beaucaillou that readers should be giving serious attention to the second wine, Croix de Beaucaillou, which sports a dramatic black and gold label. The 2011 exhibits attractive black currant and black cherry fruit, medium body, silky tannins and a lush, round, up-front appeal. Enjoy it over the next decade.

Many years have passed since we teamed up with Hubert de Bouärd; co-owner of Château Angelus, and the famed Kentish artist Graham Clarke to create our first own-labelled Bordeaux wine. Individually sourced, using carefully selected grapes, resulting in a fabulous table Claret. How does it taste after a decade? We put our own wine to the acid test this week…

Stuart McCloskey tasted 27.11.2019 “A lovely nose of redberries, mulberry, liquorice, clove and a whiff of new oak and graphite unfurl in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied and surprisingly seductive. Merlot is in the driving seat with a lovely spicy and sweet fruit entry. Mid-palate offers more savoury / earthy notes. I detect a Burgundian forest floor intermixed with dried herbs, cedar and sandalwood. The tannins are fine and polished beautifully. A touch of dryness on the finish indicating this should be consumed over the next 2-3 years. Overall, this is a cracking Claret (serve it blind as I am sure most would consider this a £20 / £25 bottle). Decanted for 1-2 hours and served in Zalto’s Bordeaux glassware

94 Points - Decanter "The generosity of the 2009 vintage comes through here and, as with the 2015, I love how it suits this terroir, providing a wonderful counterpoint to the natural austerity of soils with gravel over limestone. Liquorice, dark chocolate, tobacco leaf and grilled sarments are all wrapped up with fresh blackberries. It has a lovely generosity, but with freshness and sophistication."

94 Points - Neal Martin "The Malartic-Lagraviere ‘09 is evolving into one of the finest wines that the estate has ever produced. It has a more introverted bouquet with dark berry fruit, undergrowth and iodine. With rigorous swirling it still refuses to unfurl. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins. It builds nicely towards a lovely black olive and spice tinged finish that exudes finesse. Superb."

92+ Points - Robert Parker

A terrific, classic Graves with notes of subtle smoke, black raspberries, black currants, graphite and unsmoked cigar tobacco, this full-bodied, deep, concentrated de Fieuzal is far more generous and deep than most vintages of the past. There is also a wonderful freshness and length to this somewhat oversized de Fieuzal while it still maintains its elegance and class