Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 88-90/100
The 2023 de Camensac is a wine of restraint. Crushed flowers, mint, spice, dried herbs and red berry fruit are some of the notes that grace this mid-weight Haut-Médoc. Pretty floral overtones lift the finish nicely.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 90-92/100
The 2023 Madame de Beaucaillou is a very pretty, aromatic wine. Crushed red berry fruit, cinnamon, dried herbs and a kiss of French oak are all nicely delineated. This juicy, perfumed, Merlot-based Haut-Médoc is a fine choice for drinking over the next decade or so. The 2023 is absolutely delicious.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 91-93/100
The 2023 La Tour Carnet is superb. La Tour Carnet is one of Bordeaux’s hidden gems. The 2023 is another fine edition. Dried herbs, leather, incense, licorice, crushed flowers, chocolate and spice lend notable aromatic complexity. Medium in body and nuanced, the 2023 has so much to offer. In this vintage, it benefits from the addition of fruit from Bernard Magrez’s estate in Saint-Estèphe. In some tastings, La Tour Carnet has been more opulent. Either way, few wines in Bordeaux offer a better mix of quality and value.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 89-91/100
The 2023 Sociando-Mallet is a deep, powerful wine. Black cherry, incense, blackberry, licorice and cloves add to an impression of somber gravitas. Unctuous and rich, the 2023 shows the natural intensity of the Merlot in this vintage. Sociando is pretty heady in this vintage.

Vinous – Neil Martin – 91-93/100
The 2023 Chasse-Spleen takes time to open on the nose, gradually revealing raspberry and blackcurrant scents, touches of rose petals and freshly rolled tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins, adequate freshness and a marine-tinged finish—almost Pauillac-like in style. This is quite a stylish if almost “old-school” Chasse-Spleen that should develop well in bottle.

Vinous – Neil Martin – 89-91/100
The 2023 Mauvesin Barton has an attractive bouquet with black plum, cassis and light floral scents. This is nicely defined. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins and modest weight, but the oak is a little conspicuous toward the finish. It doesn’t quite have the ambition or complexity of the 2022, though it represents a fine, perhaps earlier-drinking Moulis-en-Médoc.

Château Dutruch Grand Poujeaux is gesitueerd in een klein gehucht van Moulis, Grand-Poujeaux genaamd, dat vooral bekend staat om zijn verfijnde wijnen. Dit domein slaagt er telkens opnieuw in om een elegante wijn te produceren die tegelijkertijd krachtig en innemend is en bovendien mooi veroudert.

Dutruch Grand Poujeaux  is een mooi rood gekleurde wijn met een bijzonder verfijnd pallet van overheerlijk donkerrood fruit waarin aroma’s van zwarte rijpe kersen de boventoon voeren. Fluweelzachte structuur met perfect versmolten tannines. Een smaakvolle wijn die ook qua prijs goed verteerbaar is.

Vinous – Neil Martin – 91-93/100
The 2023 Poujeaux was picked from September 18 to October 4 andmatured in 30% new oak. The first couple of samples tasted didn’t quite engage as much as a third bottle on the penultimate day’s tasting, which seems more representative. This Moulis, owned by the Cuvelier family (Clos Fourtet) has a tempting nose with blackberry, wild strawberry, incense and crushed violet scents—well defined and focused, blossoming nicely in the glass. There’s good energy and vibrancy. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy black fruit. Perhaps just a little gritty in terms of texture, there is a bit of rigidity apropos the tannins on the finish. Hopefully, it will gain more elegance once in bottle, but it feels as if it will meld together during élevage.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 94-96/100
The 2023 Haut-Bages Libéral is fabulous. Deep, layered and exquisitely beautiful, the 2023 bristles with tension. Dark red cherry, plum, spice, leather, menthol and licorice grace a wine of depth, richness and sensuality. It’s a terrific effort from proprietor Claire Villars-Lurton.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 92-94/100
The 2023 Fonbadet is quite powerful in this vintage. Black fruit, spice, leather, tobacco and incense show the darker side of the château and the appellation. The 2023 is a bit brooding, but all the elements are nicely balanced.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 92-94/100
The 2023 Lynch-Moussas is super-expressive right out of the gate. The lifted, expansive bouquet is enticing. Red-toned fruit, blood orange, cedar, new leather and sweet pipe tobacco build over time, adding layers of complexity and overall dimension. This stylish, mid-weight Pauillac is a delight.

Vinous – Neil Martin – 91-93/100
The 2023 d’Armailhac was picked from September 7 to 30 and aged in 50% new oak. It contains the highest percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon to date. Its tightly wound bouquet demands encouragement from the glass, perhaps just missing the panache that elevated the previous vintage. You could argue that this seems more “serious.” The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins and a firm backbone. It’s a little pepperier than previous vintages, closing with a streamlined finish. Give this two or three years in bottle.

Vinous – Neil Martin – 93-95/100
The 2023 Grand Puy Lacoste was picked September 11 to 28 at 48hL/ha and matured in 75% new oak. It has a classic “GPL” bouquet with blackberry, pencil box and light marine scents, obviously not as powerful as the previous vintage, yet in typical style, beautifully defined and focused. Just a touch of cracked black pepper surfaces with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with gentle but insistent grip, just a light bitter edge lending tension and nerve. I perceive good depth here, but this is not a powerhouse of a Pauillac (is GPL ever?). It fans out toward the finish whilst maintaining control. There’s an impressive linearity to this wine, and thus I suspect it will require less bottle-age compared to recent vintages.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni – 93-96/100
The 2023 Haut-Batailley is another impressive wine from this Chateau. There’s plenty of the typical dark fruit and overall breadth that is such a signature, but the tannins show greater finesse than in some prior years—a very positive evolution that continues here. Black cherry, plum, lavender, cloves, leather and licorice are all beautifully amplified. The 2023 marks another major step forward for Haut-Batailley.

Vinous – Neil Martin – 91-93/100
The 2023 Haut Batailley was picked from 14 September and matured in 65% new oak. It has a harmonious and focused bouquet with blackberry, graphite and iris flower scents. The oak here is neatly integrated. It’s actually stylistically not dissimilar to the Mouton Rothschild! The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins—quite rounded in the mouth, but there is backbone here. A subtle white pepper note mixes with pencil shavings on the classically styled finish, completing this refined Pauillac.

Vinous – Neil Martin – 93-95/100
The 2023 Duhart-Milon was picked September 7 to October 3 and contains 15% pressed wine, matured in 50% new oak. It has a much more backward bouquet than the Moulin, displaying well-defined yet tightly coiled graphite-infused black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins that belie the backbone of this Pauillac. That graphite element is accentuated in the mouth and controls the classic finish that could only come from this appellation. This is excellent, but patience is required.