Sometimes maligned, but a success on the right bank, a very good vintage for Merlot. Supple, round and complex wines, drinking perfectly now and over the coming few years prove that you don’t need soaring temperatures to make good wine. Easy drinking but thought provoking. Thierry Garnaud’s 18th vintage as winemaker at Canon Chaigneau, his 31st at Cheval Blanc.

• ‘The nose immediately puts one in the vicinity of Pomerol... restrained and elegant than the more recent vintages... a cooler, darker fruit profile. Plush, full, rich but the product of a very gentle extraction to produce gloriously soft and enveloping tannins. Great intensity but with no harshness at all. This is starting to drink very well indeed.’ Colin Hay, The Drinks Business.
• ‘... black Dorset plums mixed with melted dark chocolate and iodine…  peaking after 90 minutes in the glass… balanced with vivid dark plum and blackberry fruit…  still perfectly fresh and drinkable the following day,  2020-2026.’ Neal Martin, 88.

• Medals
  • Gold Medal Concours de Bordeaux.
  • Coup de Cœur at the Festival des Vins d'Aquitaine in Wuhan (China).