Chateau Gazin 2023

A fascinating, playful nose: ripe raspberries, pomegranate, rose tea, floral aromas; a delicate palate with crisp fruit, bite and breed, very spicy, long-lasting, fresh on the finish. Once again a safe bet, can age.

Vivid fruit aromas of strawberry jam, blackberry and plum. The palate shows rather smooth tannins, with plenty of wet-stone minerality and tension, without any hint of hard or drying tannins. Indeed, this is a textbook example of mainly Merlots finding their place in deep clay that kept things fresh during the heatwave. Excellent palate depth! Bordering on a 95-point score, which may be reached after barrel ageing broadens the palate even further.

The 2023 Gazin has a relatively light nose with black plum and briar scents. I would have preferred more fruit intensity, more vigor. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins. Lovely mouthfeel here, poised and focused with an underlying minerality that comes through on the finish. What you might call a "capable" Pomerol that I wager will be delicious at several years of age.

There is richness, energy, layers of fruit, and finesse here. The fruits are ripe, silky, vibrant, and fresh. The truffle, flower, and chocolate accents add to the experience. Give the wine just a few years to age, and this will be a strong Pomerol wine. The wine blends 89% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink from 2028-2042. 92-94 pts.

Dark ruby, purple reflections, brightening on the edge. Ripe plum fruit, a hint of dried fruit, some nougat, candied orange zest. Juicy, round, ripe cherries, round tannins, fine acidity, mineral, already accessible, harmonious and approachable, a versatile food wine.

Deep, delicately red-berried and spicy bouquet: wild raspberry, cooled fruit tea and a delicate violet perfume, with graphite, dried rose petals and tobacco leaf in the background. On the masculine palate, silky in texture with fleshy extract, a tightly knit, mouthcoating tannin frame and a well-trained body—everything is in the right place. In the concentrated, very long finish: sloe jelly, juniper and a powdery astringency. Top aging potential!

One of those benchmark estates that rise above the individual character of the year, imposing their own personality that remains true to itself. Good texture here, enjoyable depth and balance, peony floral character, cocoa bean and slate, with tannins that give sinew and tension to the palate. Good stuff, will age.

Score: 90–92. A warm, alluring nose with a dominant red-fruit profile (raspberry, black cherry), in contrast with the usual character of Gazin wines, which lean toward blue fruits. On the palate, it is taut, fluid, with chewy tannins.