2015 La Dame de Montrose, St Estèphe, Bordeaux

55% Cabernet Sauvignon; 41% Merlot; 4% Petit Verdot.

The nose has a really nice aroma of tobacco combined with floral notes. Darker fruits dominate, with blackberry, cherry, and plum to the fore. The palate is sweet, too, with an energetic lift and a very rewarding length. We really like the wine this year. A cooling, mineral earthiness arrives on the finish, which is welcome and pleasing. Quite sumptuous for a second wine, it is serious this year—a good fruit core, nice and savoury and a joy to taste.

Berry Bros. & Rudd