Robe — Deep garnet with a black core, slow amber rim with age
blackcurrant
cedar
graphite
tobacco leaf
Palate
Firm, tannic, upright; built around Cabernet structure
Ageing
10–30 years and beyond for the great crus
Serving
16–18 °C, decanted in youth
The left bank's grand manner: Cabernet Sauvignon on deep gravel banks, seasoned with Merlot for flesh, Cabernet Franc for perfume and a dash of Petit Verdot for iron. This is the wine the 1855 classification ranked, the "New French Claret" London discovered in the eighteenth century, and still the world's reference for structured, long-lived red wine.
Young, it is strict — cassis, cedar and tannin in a closed fist; with a decade it opens into tobacco, forest floor and that particular Médoc gravity. The style runs from the sturdy crus of the northern Médoc to the perfumed heights of Margaux and the powerful hearts of Pauillac.