Chateau Vray Croix de Gay 2023

Enchanting bouquet with raspberries, mint, herbs, and floral notes; a fresh palate with peppery spice, almost spicy on the finish, and remarkably long. An excellent Pomerol.

Bramble bushes and freshly picked black summer berries with some dark chocolate elements. A little dark and sticky, quite savoury and toasted but not from the oak, with hints of bitter coffee and liquorice and warming blackcurrant and black cherry fruit. Smooth and streamlined, this has a lovely precise and fresh element to the fruit, clean and crystalline. It’s not so plush, more linear, but it doesn’t feel like it’s missing any concentration or power. pH 3.75. Yield 34 hl/ha. Ageing 18 months, 30% new.

The 2023 Vray Croix de Gay has a light but well-defined nose, raspberry and wild strawberry fruit, delicate but I admire its focus and charm. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly gritty tannins on the entry. There is a little more structure than I noticed from barrel, dark berry fruit laced with graphite and a touch of tobacco that renders the finish a little "Médocian." This has developed well during its élevage and deserves a higher score.

Violets, chocolate, truffle, black cherries, and licorice form the perfume. On the palate, the medium-bodied wine is elegant, supple, soft, and silky. The wine is fresh, vibrant, clean, and pure, finishing with chocolate-covered cherries, black raspberries, and a hint of peppery spice that only emerges at the very end of the finish. The blend is 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, 14.5% ABV. This is the second vintage made by the same team that also produces Calon Segur. Drink from 2026–2042. 91–93 pts.

98% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc. Complex black-berry bouquet, graphite, seductive violets and elderberry jelly. On the sublime palate, delicately firm texture, subtle toasted notes, graphite and a hint of dark chocolate. In the focused, finely aromatic finish, black-berry contours, dark minerality and fine-grained extract.

Score: 92–94. Lovely red fruit, rich and generous, joins peony and violet aromas in a bouquet that dances under the nose. A charming texture caresses the palate, with perfectly ripe fruit and notes of tobacco and roasted coffee, for a wine that will win everyone over.

This feels comfy, with a soft texture, but persistent flavors of warmed plum, cherry and raspberry preserves are imbued with rooibos tea and incense notes. Picks up a showy ganache edge through the finish, giving this some bling. A seductive wine. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2037. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.