Chateau Haut Maillet 2016

JAMES SUCKLING: "This has plenty of red fruit, good concentration and a delicate fragrance, but the generous tannins are quite grainy and that makes this rather challenging at the moment. Built for the long term, so better from 2021."

JEB DUNNUCK: "The deep purple-colored 2016 Château Haut-Maillet (80/20 Merlot and Cabernet Franc) is a fresh, vibrant, medium-bodied effort that has textbook notes of tobacco, damp earth, black cherries, and spice. I’d love to see more oomph, but it has beautiful purity as well as balance. It’s capable of keeping for 15 years or more."