The alluring Aurage 2018 is an exquisite embodiment of French winemaking finesse, hailing from the celebrated vineyards of the Cotes de Bordeaux Castillon. This venerated wine offers an eloquent testimony of traditional wine craftsmanship, where vines are ploughed by horses and grapes are harvested by hand, capturing the charm of yesteryears.

Aurage is the product of labour and love by the youthful and vibrant, Julien and Ludovic Hubert. These brothers, part of a third-generation winemaking family, are renowned for producing wines of incredible depth and complexity. The Aurage 2018, specifically, is a harmonious blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, exuding notes of ripe plum, black cherry, and gentle spices. Aged in oak for 14 months, it boasts a polished tannic structure and a lingering finish.

When uncorked, the Aurage 2018 reveals its splendid character, thus elevating any occasion. An enchanting amalgamation of heritage and innovation, each bottle promises an unparalleled olfactory and gustatory journey.

James Suckling (94-95)

This is very structured and dense with lots of fruit and tannin, yet it’s tight and long. Linear and racy. Muscular.

Indulge in the exquisite experience that is the Beau Soleil 2018. This spectacular red wine hails from the renowned vineyards of Bordeaux, France. A product of meticulous winemaking, Beau Soleil 2018 is a fine blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. These were given the perfect exposure to the sun, nurturing the grapes to full maturity. Expert vintners from the highly respected Château Beau-Soleil leveraged traditional methods of harvesting and fermentation to craft a wine of outstanding calibre.

As soon as you uncork a bottle, you are emboldened by the layered complexity of dark fruits, light spices intertwined with an undertone of oak. Beyond the nose, Beau Soleil 2018 teases the palate with robust tannins extending to a smooth, long finish. This wine encapsulates the best of the Bordeaux terroir, harmonising the power of bold fruit forwardness with subtle complexity. The Beau Soleil 2018 is undeniably a distinguishable gem in any fine wine collection.

Wine Spectator (96-99)

Juicy and forward in feel, with fresh plum, blackberry and anise notes. Dense, but still silky and refined in feel, revealing a long mineral echo through the finish. This is so pure, it seems almost too easy to drink already, just as you realize how ridiculously long it is.

Wine Advocate (89-91)

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Jeb Dunnuck (93-96)

A rough blend of 78% Merlot and 22% Franc made by the team at Canon (Thomas Duclos also consults here), the 2018 Château Berliquet sports a deeper purple color as well as a complex, layered style in its black raspberry, white flowers, dried earth, spice, and forest floor aromas and flavors. It's medium to full-bodied, has a rounded, expansive texture, beautiful tannins, and brilliant freshness and purity as well as a serious kick of minerality on the finish. Coming from a smaller 10-hectare terroir located on the clay and limestone soils on the upper plateau, it will spend 16 months in 45% new French oak. Tasted twice.

Vinous - Neal Martin (92)

The 2018 Bonalgue has one of the most backward bouquets that I encountered from the appellation in this vintage from bottle, requiring at least an hour’s aeration to reveal blackberry, loamy and truffle scents. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins and a fine bead of acidity. Here it picks up, offering lively black fruit and fine mineralité on the finish. This is an excellent Bonalgue, a great success for the estate. Just be patient with the aromatics.

Wine Advocate (89-91)

The deep garnet-purple colored 2018 Boyd-Cantenac features smoked meats, dried herbs and savory aromas over baked berries and cassis with a pencil lead hint. The palate is full-bodied with a soft texture and bags of fruit and herb sparks, finishing warm.

James Suckling (97)

Very attractive aromas of currants, tile and sandalwood with black and red currants. It’s full-bodied with a tight, dense center-palate that remains closed in and tight. Yet there is underlying seriousness and length to this. Perhaps the greatest Branaire-Ducru ever made. Try after 2026.

Vinous - Neal Martin (90)

The 2018 Château Brown is well defined on the nose, offering plenty of black fruit laced with hints of espresso and dark chocolate, and just a faint star anise note hovering on the background. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly gritty tannins on the entry, fine acidity and nice focus. Though it misses some depth and flesh toward the finish, it does have a spring in its step and it should drink nicely for 12–15 years.

Vinous - Antonio Galloni (98)

The 2018 Canon is every bit as magnificent from bottle as it was from barrel. Maybe more so. Vertical and explosive in the glass, Canon sizzles with tension and vibrancy. Readers will find a majestic, soaring Grand Cru Classé that captures all the magic of Saint-Émilion's limestone plateau. Canon exudes mind-blowing precision and deliciousness. It is another magnificent effort from Technical Director Nicolas Audebert and his team.

Vinous - Antonio Galloni (97)

The 2018 Canon La Gaffelière is bright, punchy and full of character, just as it was from barrel. Sage, blood orange, mocha and spice add pretty aromatic top notes to a core of inky red/purplish berry fruit. All the elements are so well balanced in this super-expressive Saint-Émilion. Bright floral and savory Franc notes punctuate the salivating finish, mineral-drenched finish. The 2018 needs a lot of air to open, but when it does, it is dynamite.

Jeb Dunnuck (92-94)

From the team at Calon Ségur, the 2018 Château Capbern is another smoking good Saint-Estèphe. In 2018 it’s a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot that will spend 18 months in 60% new French oak. This ripe, sexy wine (it hit 14.6% natural alcohol) sports a deep purple color as well as blockbuster notes of crème de cassis, jammy blackberries, crushed flowers, and scorched earth. Despite all the fruit and texture, it stays beautifully balanced, has classic Saint-Estèphe earthy minerality, ripe tannins, and a great finish.

Vinous - Neal Martin (90-92)

The 2018 Cissac has a nose with real gusto, featuring precocious blackberry, raspberry and cranberry fruit; cedar and graphite scents emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins framing dense black fruit laced with allspice and black pepper. I appreciate the energy of this Cissac and I believe it will age with grace. Excellent.

Wine Spectator (94-97)

Features seamlessly layered dark currant, fig and boysenberry fruit, infused liberally with a tobacco note and backed by a long, smoldering finish. Latent energy keeps this going. An impressive young wine.

Vinous - Neal Martin (93-95)

The 2018 Clos du Clocher, picked from 27 September until 5 October, was matured in 60% new oak. It has a classic Pomerol bouquet with blackberry and raspberry fruit laced with smoke and black truffle. The palate is quite intense, as you would expect, since the yield was 32hL/ha. Supple tannins, very saline in the mouth with a generous sprinkling of black pepper on the finish. This is an impressive Pomerol in the making with very good persistence. Superb.

Jeb Dunnuck (94-96)

Rocking stuff, the 2018 Clos du Marquis checks in 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc that hit 14.5% alcohol with a healthy pH of 3.64 and an IPT of 79. It boasts a deep, saturated purple color as well as ripe, powerful, yet complex aromatics. Full-bodied and rich, with a stacked mid-palate, this beauty builds on the palate with ripe, polished tannin, ample oomph, and a great finish. It’s a powerful, concentrated wine from the team at Léoville Las Cases that will benefit from 5-7 years of bottle age and keep for two decades.

Crafted from sumptuously ripe Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, the Closerie Saint Roc Rouge 2018 hails from the renowned Bordeaux region of France. This opulent red wine is the creation of the respected Les Vignerons de Tutiac winery, who takes a meticulous, handcrafted approach in the vineyard. Closerie Saint Roc Rouge 2018 is known for its impeccably balanced flavour profile, sporting rich berry nuances intertwined with subtle spice and oak undertones, a testament to 18 months of careful oak barrel aging.

Full-bodied yet velvety, it complements hearty roasts and succulent steak beautifully, its bright acidity and firm tannins ensuring a robust structure and long-lasting finish. As a vintage year, 2018 was highly favourable, leading to a Closerie Saint Roc Rouge that radiates charm, elegance, and a depth of flavour that encompasses the very essence of superior French viticulture.

Classified as a Premier Grand Cru Classé “B” in St-Émilion, there is talk of a potential upgrade to the promised land of Classé “A” just next year – a testament to the extraordinary quality of Château Canon over the past few vintages. A whopping 90% of Canon’s vines are planted on the plateau of St-Émilion, 70% of which is Merlot with the rest Cabernet Franc. A stunningly picturesque vineyard as it happens, workers during the harvest here are treated to gorgeous views of two church spires including the ancient St-Martin-de-Mazerat. This beauty is certainly translated through the vineyard’s terroir into a wine of transcendent polish and lifted elegance.

Wine Enthusiast (94)

The second wine of Château Montrose is a major star in its own right. With dense tannins and concentrated black fruits, it has power and richness. The wine's potential, impressive for a second wine, is very evident in the structure. Drink from 2026.

Wine Advocate (91-93)

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Wine Advocate (92-94)

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James Suckling (99)

The intensity and perfumes on the nose are extremely impressive, offering pure blackberries and violets, as well as bark, wild-mushroom and raw-tile notes. It’s full-bodied with creamy tannins that envelop the wine and a gorgeous, subtly complex center palate with all the flavors found on the nose. Endless finish. Love the finesse and length to this. Greatest ever. 65% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot and 5% petit verdot. Try after 2026.

James Suckling (97-98)

This is dense and very structured with phenolic tension and depth. Full-bodied, lightly phenolic with sliced apples, cooked pears and lemons. Lively and intense. Solid as a rock. This is one to watch.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

Looking at the 2018 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, I was stopped in my tracks at this beauty and continue to think 2018 is an incredible vintage for Bordeaux. Checking in as 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot that was raised in new barrels, it has an essence of cassis character as well notes of tobacco leaf, dark chocolate, crushed stone, and cedar pencil. Cut from the same cloth as the 2009, although with slightly more polished tannins, it's full-bodied and massively concentrated and structured, yet flawlessly balanced, with incredible purity and no hard edges.

James Suckling (96-97)

The black color indicates a solid and structured red with loads of blackberry and blueberry character. Full-bodied and very tight and tensioned. Savory tannins that are powerful and intense at the finish. Classically structured. Finely toned and formed young red.

Wine Advocate (91-93)

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Wine Advocate (95-97)

The 2018 Gruaud Larose is blended of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc, with a pH of 3.88 and 14.2% alcohol. Deep garnet-purple in color, it leaps from the glass with bold black cherries, mulberries, plum preserves and blackcurrant cordial scents with hints of menthol, lilacs, licorice and cloves plus wafts of fallen leaves and tilled soil. Medium to full-bodied with a taut core of ripe, densely packed, muscular fruit, it has a firm line of ripe, grainy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and spicy. Very exotic Gruaud!

James Suckling (99)

Complex and expressive nose, offering red and dark fruit, spices and pepper with wood and mushroom undertones. Fresh mussel shell and a hint of ink, too. Full-bodied with a fine texture and great balance between the acidity and the controlled, tannic structure. Very long finish. Goes on and on. Tiny production, 21 hectoliters per hectare. Try after 2025.