Château d'Aiguilhe 2024

Red-fruited, fresh blackberries, chalky minerality, mint; precise on the palate, crisp fruit, good density, powdery tannins, wonderfully juicy, with freshness, spice and an impressive length. In the style of the vintage, high level, can age as well.

Fragrant but also stalky and a touch oaky on the nose. Supple and juicy, this is easy to like straight away with a brightness to the red berry fruit and lively, almost citric acidity. Good persistence, this is relatively lightly weight but there's gorgeously fine tannins that give the structure. High acidity and fine tannins with almost sweet strawberries make this lively and fun. Super easy to enjoy if you like raciness - there's maybe a touch high acidity with some bitterness and really quite lemony acidity that lingers. Feels well worked. Nothing pushed. Ageing 20% new oak barrels.

Medium-bodied, round, forward, and fruity, the wine is charming, early-drinking, and most importantly, you can taste and feel the influence of its minerality, with its chalky notes and a touch of salt that accompanies the bright, sweet, vibrant red pit fruits, along with a hint of cocoa that appears at the very end of the finish. The wine is made from 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. 13% ABV. Drink from 2027–2038. 91–93 points.

In the limestone soils of Castillon, the key was to avoid austerity, and here the focus is very much on cherry bud, savoury cherry pit, violet floral notes, chalk and pumice stone, mouthwatering and savoury. Harvest 24 September to 10 October. 38 hl/ha. 20% new oak for ageing. 20hl casks, and probably slightly longer ageing than usual.