2018 suits this estate, which can seem steelier from barrel in cooler vintages. Better perhaps than the superlative 2009. The alcohol is just under 14.5% with high tannins. While some estates – like Cos d’Estournel – are cutting back on the new oak or the aging time on the 2018, director Pierre Graffeuille may extend time in barrel to “20 months or maybe more”. Fine Cuban Cigar. Very long on the finish and veritable velvety lift. There is such density and yet fine finesse and lift. You get a sense of pure red, crystalline fruit, then tobacco, fine Cuban, and density as well as lift, as the alcohol is buffered by excellent acidity. Indeed, the finish is marked by gorgeous orange peel freshness. “This could shut down, as the tannins are there”, owner Jean Hubert Delon stressed. When talking about 2016, Delon says this “could be like comparing 1959”. He recalls smelling the 59 in the vat room as a child, and the 2018 reminds him of that.

Score: 97-100