Bordeaux 2021 Vintage

Peter Sisseck’s Rocheyron is a blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc in 2021 – the highest-ever proportion of Cabernet Franc. Wild strawberry and redcurrant aromas, with plum, orange rind and tobacco leaf. The palate revels in beautiful, pure raspberry fruit, guided by polished, supple tannins which allow the limestone texture to shine through and exert a stony-mineral grip. Fermented at 25°C, reaching a maximum of 28°C. The wine spent 30 days in concrete vats, before being transferred to oak barrels, 30% new. 13% abv.

C&B Score 18

Recommended drinking from 2026 - 2040+

£350/CASE OF 6 Bottles

£370/CASE OF  12 Halves

£120/CASE OF 1 Magnum

£270/CASE OF 1 Double Magnum

£505/CASE OF 1 Imperial

All prices are quoted in bond UK

85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc. 2021 was the 150th vintage of Conseillante. Restrained violet and blueberry aromas, with a hint of creaminess. The medium bodied palate is crunchy and fresh on the entry, with crystalline raspberry and blue-hued fruits. The tannins are fine and textured, stopping short of grippy. 70% new oak. 13% abv. Picked 28th September to 12th October. 39 hl/ha.

C&B Score: 17.5
Drinking dates: 2028 - 2040

The first vintage made in the new cellars at Figeac. 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Cabernet Franc, 29% Merlot. Bright ruby colour. Blackberry, cassis and cedar aromas. The palate is supple and giving on the entry, dark berry fruit framed by fine, plushly fruit-coated tannins and lifted by juicy acidity. 100% new oak. 13% abv. Just 10% below usual yields of 42hl/ha.

C&B Score: 18
Drinking dates: 2028-2045

47% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc. Spicy, minty aromas – an engaging herbeceous sappiness here. The palate opens crisp and precise, revealing an intensely red-berried mid-palate of raspberry and tomato leaf. Fresh, crunchy acidity and fine tannins.

C&B Score: 17.5

Drinking dates: 2026-36

70% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Cabernet Franc. Dark aromas of blackcurrant and crushed rock, with cedary spice. The palate is impressively dense and weighty, with dark cherry and blackberry fruit and even a liquorice-like intensity. Lots of extract here.

C&B Score: 17+

Drinking dates: 2026-38

75% Sauvignon Blanc, 25% Semillon. A polite Domaine de Chevalier Blanc – precise and with nicely defined white peach and pear frut, then an exotic fruit flair on the finish. Grippy and clipped.

C&B Score: 17

Drinking dates: 2026-36

48% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Cabernet Franc,A wine of fine aromatic stony-mineral tension, with a core of fresh acidity and a crunchiness of dark cherry and berry fruit, with a zesty orange peel exuberance. The tannins are substantial, yet finely polished and rendered very elegantly. 

C&B Score: 18

Drinking dates: 2030-50

55% Sémillon and 45% Sauvignon Blanc. Salty-mineral, with patisserie and white peach fruit. Phenolic crunch. Great energy, this is a hit in 2021.

C&B Score: 17.5

Drinking dates: 2025-30

80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. Sweet aromas of blackberry, dark cherry and liquorice, very pure. The palate is racy and acidity-driven, with lithe dark berry fruit and fine grippy tannins. What Domaine de Chevalier may lack in polish this year, it makes up for in personality.

C&B Score: 17.5-18

Drinking dates: 2027-40

50% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Cabernet Franc. Coiled and tightly packed, with more fruit density than La Mission, a more monolithic aspect. This is dark-fruited and rather impressively brooding. Dense and serious, this is an Haut-Brion of substance and ageing potential.

Cropped at 48hl/ha, despite mildew pressure. Harvested 13th September to 8th October. There was some rain but it did not impact negatively. 13.2 - 13.8% abv. 20% less first wines vs last year (but more second wines).

C&B Score: 18+

Drinking dates: 2030-50

55% Sémillon, 45% Sauvignon Blanc. High acidity level meant could pick at leisure. More cedary spice here compared to La Mission Blanc. The palate is juicy and delactable, peachy and apricot, even with some tropical pineapple and green melon. Dried extract too.

C&B Score: 18.5

Drinking dates: 2026-40

70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot. Aromas of dark berries, violets and fine cedary spice. The palate opens cool and focused, onto a medium bodied mid-palate with ferrous minerality and detailed tannins.

C&B Score: 17

Drinking dates: 2027-37

64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot. La Croix, the second wine of Ducru-Beaucaillou, comes from central holdings in St Julien. Suave violet-clad blackberry fruit, with supple texture and plushly fruit-coated tannins, which exert a fine grip on the finish. As silky as its Jade Jagger label, very good.

C&B Score: 17.5

Drinking dates: 2026-38

80% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine that was Lalande Borie, the third wine of the estate. The first vintage was 2018. Creamy raspberry, with a supple fruit-coating to the firm tannins. 30% new oak.

C&B Score: 17+

Drinking dates: 2024-31

60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. Sweet, lifted aromas of blackcurrant, liquorice and vanilla pod. The palate is fresh and has a flair to it – raspberry, sweeet spices and bold, grippy tannins. This has impressively maintained the personality of Pape-Clement whilst adapting to the vintage conditions.

C&B Score: 17+

Drinking dates: 2027-40

98% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Merlot – the highest proportion ever of Cabernet. Aromas of cassis and cedar, intense and very elegant. The palate’s dense blackcurrant fruit is enlivened by fresh acidity, framed by huge yet exquisitely extracted tannins. This seems to have left the challenges of the season in its wake. Stunning wine, in an old-school St Julien vein. 12.5% abv. Aged for 18 months in 100% new oak.

C&B Score: 18

Drinking dates: 2030-50

From Cussac and Listrac, in the Haut-Medoc. 71% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Petit Verdot. Inky purple colour. Violet-hued, with sleek dark berry fruit and honest, firm tannins. 20% new oak. Great bistrot wine! 27hl/ha.

C&B Score: 17

Drinking dates: 2024-29

74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot with a touch of Petit Verdot and Carmenere. Blackcurrant and cedary spice aromas. The palate is inky and cassisy, with a graphite intensity and fine, gently grippy tannins. Impressive, in a sparse, pared-down way.

C&B Score: 17+

Drinking dates: 2026-38

90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc. Blackberry aromas with orange rind and sweet spices. The palate is juicy and supple on the entry, finding texture and focus on the raspberry fruited mid-palate, which is lively and framed by fine tannins. 50% new oak. Cropped at 40 hl/ha. 13.5% abv.

C&B Score: 17.5

Drinking dates: 2026-40

65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc. Selected from the whole 30 hectare estate. This combines succulent raspberry fruit and strict, sappy, saline definition. A wine of tenderness, fine, polished tannins and chalky minerality. So complete. Cropped at just 19hl/ha.

C&B Score: 18
Drinking dates: 2027-2045

70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and fully 7% Petit Verdot. Blackberry and cedary aromas, very classical. The palate is crunchy and cassisy, with fine, forceful tannins. Good personality here, Saint-Pierre is a success in 2021.

C&B Score: 17

Drinking dates: 2025-35

61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 14% Petit Verdot and 6% Cabernet Franc. Fresh raspberry and red cherry aromas, with a herbal lift. The palate is sinewy and focused, with a sappy herbaceousness.

C&B Score: 16.5

Drinking dates: 2026-36

80% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc. Bright ruby. Herbaceous raspberry aromas. Palate is herb-infused and medium bodied, crunchy raspberry and a touch of chocolate.

C&B Score: 16.5

Drinking dates: 2025-30

60% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. Dark berry and fresh mint aromas. The palate is cool and pure, blackberry and blackcurrant, with chalky tannins. 25% new oak.

C&B Score: 17

Drinking dates: 2028-38

64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Cool dark berry aromas, very discreet. The palate is focused and has a great purity of shiny blackberry and bitter cherry fruit. Firm, tightly packed tannins exert a grip on the finish. 12.7% abv. 55% new oak.

C&B Score: 17.5

Drinking dates: 2030 - 45

84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Saturated ruby-purple colour. Gentle aromas of raspberries, violets and summer roses, a delight. The palate is sweetly red-berried, with fine fruit-coated tannins and juicy acidity. The medium body makes for an approachable Gruaud Larose which will be accessible earlier.

C&B Score: 17.5

Drinking dates: 2028-40

80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc. Luminous ruby colour. Bright aromas of red cherry and sappy spices. The palate is upbeat and energetic, with juicy acidity and joyful raspberry fruit, aided by the high proportion (over half) of whole bunch vinification. A gorgeous Rouget, although sadly little was produced – the yield was a mere 16hl/ha. 13.5% abv.

C&B Score: 17.5-18

Drinking dates: 2027-40

55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot. Deep ruby colour. Vanilla pod and cedar, with dark berry fruit aromas. The palate is supple and enticing on the entry, sweetly-fruited. Grippy and saline on the finish. A bold wine which pulls it off.

C&B Score: 17

Drinking dates: 2027-39

88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot. Deep purple-ruby colour. Reticent aromas of raspberry and blackcurrant. The palate is vivacious on the entry, finely perfumed with violets and roses, opening onto a medium bodied mid-palate of deft dark berries and confident, fine, fruit-coated tannins, with fine grip on the end. Sensitively made. 12.9% abv.

C&B Score: 17.5+

Drinking dates: 2030-45

65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. Dark berry fruit, compact and very tightly packed at this early stage. The tannins are fine and sensitively extracted, with fresh acidity. Very correct, although time needed to see how this unfurls.

C&B Score 17-17.5
Drinking dates: 2028-40

61% Merlot, 33% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc. Dark cedary berry fruit aromas, with a red cherry lift. The medium bodied palate’s crunchy, perfume-infused pure red and black berry fruit reticent but just-so, framed by gently-extracted tannins. An earlier drinking Lafon-Rochet, adapted to the 2021 season.

C&B Score: 17

Drinking dates: 2025-35

52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc. Cedary spices, dark briny berry fruit and sappy herbaceousness.

C&B Score: 16.5

Drinking dates: 2026-34

57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Raspberry and red cherry aromas, with firm cedary spice. The medium-bodied palate’s cool, dark berry flavours are framed by gratifyingly honest, grippy tannins and sustained by fresh acidity. Treads a line between respect for the vintage conditions and that irrepressible Beychevelle zest.

C&B Score: 17

Drinking dates: 2028-40

75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot. Sweet dark cherry fruit and cedary spice aromas. The blackberry-fruited palate is confident and has a reassuring level of St Estephe grip. This will age really well. A wine of personality which has taken on the challenges of the 2021 season and succeeded.

C&B Score: 17.5

Drinking dates: 2026-40

65% Cabernet Franc, 35% Merlot. Average 55 year old vines on limestone and clay slopes. Herbal and violet-laden, with a wild strawberry and raspberry. There is a softness and approachability here, suggesting a wine that will not require long ageing. The extraction and cuvaison were even gentler and shorter than usual here, which is seen in the medium body and melded profile. 12.5% abv. 20,000 bottles were made.

C&B Score: 18

Drinking dates: 2028-45

65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec, 1% Petit Verdot. Perfumed dark berry aromas, with a violet-hued prettiness. The palate is medium bodied and darkly fruited, with a stark intensity that reveals the stony-mineral texture.

C&B Score: 17

Drinking dates: 2026-38

From the Mouton-Rothschild stable. 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 1.5% Carmenere, 1.5% Petit Verdot. Dark and blackcurrant-fruited aromas, quite Cabernet-dominant for Clerc Milon. The palate is pure and immediate, fine fruit-coated tannins and a fine, defined finish.

C&B Score: 17

Drinking dates: 2028-38

88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 2% Merlot. Saturated ruby colour. Aromas of cassis, graphite and crushed earth minerality. The palate is a notch more than medium-bodied, honed and inky-dark, the fine blackcurrant fruit framed by chalky tannins and lifted by fresh acidity. Very Pauillac – a wine of texture, with enough flesh on the bone. Cropped at just 15hlha. The grand vin represents 60% of production. 12.5% of press wine. 13% abv.

C&B Score: 17.5 - 18

Drinking dates: 2028-45

62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. Glass-staining ruby colour. Blackcurrant and raspberry aromas, with cedar, violets and bitter chocolate. The palate is fresh and pure, with a vivacious red-fruited aspect, juicy and with fine, muscular, grippy tannins. Ripe redcurrant and chalky minerality persist on the long finish.

C&B Score: 18

Drinking dates: 2030-50

68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot. Blackberry and bitter cherry aromas, with more restrained new oak than is habitual here. The palate is cool and focused, inky dark cassis framed by muscular but shapely tannins. A GPD of personality which has not shied away from the challenges of the season.

C&B Score: 17+

Drinking dates: 2025-35

38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 53% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc. Blackberries and bitter chocolate on the nose. The palate is supple and quite richly, darkly fruited, with an uncommon plushness on the mid-palate, before the fine, muscular St Estephe tannins reveal themselves. Very good.

C&B Score: 17

Drinking dates: 2028-40

51% Cabernet Sauvignon 28% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot 14% Cabernet Sauvignon. Playful raspberry aromas, leading into a medium-bodied palate of supple red fruits, with an attractive succulence and fresh mint lift. Deft tannins and a tapered finish. Impressive.

C&B Score - 17.5

Drinking dates: 2026 - 2038

73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot. Raspberry and dried herb aromas, leading into a deft, perfumed palate of briny red and black berries. Compact, grippy tannins on the back-palate make for a Cantenac Brown of personality.

C&B Score: 16.5-17

Drinking dates: 2027-39

96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot. Sweet blackcurrant and liquorice aromas, with a creamy edge. The palate’s graphite and cassis are super-classical, blackberry fruit peppered with those fabulous Lafite pencil shavings, framed by fine, clipped tannins.

C&B Score: 18 - 18.5

Drinking dates: 2030-50+

78% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon. A herby nose of dark berries and bramble. The medium-bodied palate is brightly red fruited, with a fresh, juicy approachability and low-level fine tannins. Grassy spices.

C&B Score: 17+

Drinking dates: 2026-36

100% Merlot. Bright ruby colour. Gentle raspberry aromas. The palate is more forthright, with a red berried attack, leading onto a more tempered mid-palate, framed by fine grippy tannins. Long, tapering finish.

C&B Score: 17

Drinking dates: 2027-40

61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 14% Petit Verdot and 6% Cabernet Franc. Fresh raspberry and red cherry aromas, with a herbal lift. The palate is sinewy and focused, with a sappy herbaceousness.

C&B Score: 16.5

Drinking dates: 2026-36