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A Woman’s Touch: Lafleur 1985-2022
France: Bordeaux Verticals and Retrospectives featured, France: Bordeaux, featured
, Sep 2025
This year, Château Lafleur celebrates four decades of ownership by the Guinaudeau family. To mark the occasion, a weekend in Austria witnessed a unique vertical of every vintage from 1985 to 2022, all poured from magnum. How did this Pomerol-turned-Vin de France perform?
Cellar Favorite: 2000 Calon-Ségur
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Bordeaux
, Sep 2025
The 2000 Calon-Ségur epitomizes everything I love about Bordeaux, specifically how magnificently the wines develop over time.
Cellar Favorite: 1924, 1929 & 1955 Meyney
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Bordeaux, France: Bordeaux featured Verticals and Retrospectives
, Aug 2025
Last primeur, which already seems like ages ago, Château Meyney organised a fascinating lunch recreating a historic dinner served in 1928. Three vintages of Meyney older than any I had encountered previously were poured blind.
A Century of...Fives
France: Bordeaux Verticals and Retrospectives featured, France: Bordeaux, France: Bordeaux featured Verticals and Retrospectives, featured
, Jun 2025
My annual "Century of..." article revisits vintages on their decennial anniversaries. This year, we dive into Fives.
Cellar Favorite: 1990 Hennebelle
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Bordeaux, featured
, Jun 2025
The 1990 Hennebelle is a pertinent reminder of the glories of Bordeaux, how a modest quarter-century-old Haut-Médoc could deliver such pleasure.
Bordeaux: The Crisis Laid Bare
France: Bordeaux, featured
, Jun 2025
Bordeaux is facing its biggest crisis since the 1930s. After speaking candidly to people in and outside of Bordeaux, I felt a duty to depict the sheer scale of the calamity the Bordeaux wine industry is up against.
Bordeaux 2015 At Age Ten
France: Bordeaux Verticals and Retrospectives featured, France: Bordeaux, France: Bordeaux featured Verticals and Retrospectives, featured
, Jun 2025
The 2015 vintage in Bordeaux was warmly received on release, but 2016 stole the limelight just 12 months later. How is the vintage faring now that the wines have reached age ten? Blindfolds on.
The Innings Continues: 1948 to 1995 Yquem
France: Bordeaux Verticals and Retrospectives featured, France: Bordeaux, France: Bordeaux featured Verticals and Retrospectives, featured
, May 2025
I have tasted a great deal of mature Bordeaux wine, including Sauternes, but I have not yet achieved the magic number of 100 different vintages from a single estate. I mentioned my goal to Lorenzo Pasquini, Yquem’s head winemaker, when visiting in April, and he promised to do his best to help, cracking open a selection of mainly off-vintages that filled some of the gaps.
Going Underground: Clos Fourtet 1989-2019
France: Bordeaux Verticals and Retrospectives featured, France: Bordeaux, France: Bordeaux featured Verticals and Retrospectives, featured
, May 2025
Clos Fourtet is one of the most picturesque and ideally located châteaux in Saint-Émilion, blessed with some of the finest terroir on the limestone plateau. Under Mathieu Cuvelier, Clos Fourtet has realised its potential and is now regarded amongst the appellation’s best wines. The heart of this piece is an interview with Cuvelier following a vertical tasting of recent vintages, detailing specifics of the vineyard and winemaking approaches.
Event Horizon: Bordeaux 2024 Primeur
France: Bordeaux, featured
, May 2025
Twenty-four was a tough fight for Bordeaux winemakers, but one that some were prepared for. While there are unavoidable shortcomings in the wines, some châteaux succeeded where they would have once failed. This report will not tell you whether to buy the wines or not, since prices are only just being released. But it will tell you exactly what I think about the quality of the unfinished barrel samples.