7 Bordeaux, Tasting Night

1) Château Fombrauge 2019. Saint-Émilion caught in full bloom: a great vintage worn lightly, all fruit and sunshine.

2) Château Cos Labory 2016. A decade in, still dressed like a debutante. Lovely tonight, but patience will be repaid.

3) Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 2014. Wine of the night, maybe of the year. It ticks every box, then quietly adds a few more.

4) Château Batailley 2005. Somehow both younger and older than it looks. A wine still reaching forward while glancing back. Strange and wonderful.

5) Château Carbonnieux 1996. Proof you should never overlook the reds of Pessac-Léognan. Mature, poised, textbook Bordeaux with grey in its hair.

6) Château Rouget 1982. You don't sip a legend casually. Drinking this vintage felt less like a tasting and more like a privilege.

7) Château Rieussec 1975. Sauternes in full glory, and a quiet reminder of what we're all forgetting to pour. Collectors, take the hint.

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou