Batailley 2015 Revisited

Batailley 2015 is an exceptional Pauillac that has impressed wine enthusiasts with its exquisite blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon and 28% Merlot. The wine has consistently received high scores from renowned wine critics, making it a go-to choice for those searching for a refined and delicate Pauillac at the Cru level.

The wine's complexity is derived from ageing in 60% new oak, contributing to its striking energy and cut and creamy touch and finish. Moreover, bottle ageing also contributes to the wine's distinct personality and nuance. 

Neal Martin, who awarded this wine a V95, described it as a wine of class, pedigree, and nuance. He praised the wine's dark, purplish flavour profile, which includes graphite, smoke, violet, mint, dark cherry, and plum. The wine's striking energy and cut are noteworthy, making it stand out. Batailley is always a Pauillac with a distinct personality; this wine is no exception. It's also one of the overachievers of the year.

JS also awarded this wine a 95, highlighting its immediate appeal to the nose and palate with blackberries and dark plums. He also praised its chiselled tannins, long and fresh fruity finish, and spicy oak flavours.

RP awarded this wine a 95, commending its fruit intensity with blackberry, boysenberry, tobacco, and cedar aromas. The wine develops a subtle mint accent and gathers momentum in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, lithe tannin, well-balanced, and slightly tinniness that will disappear in the bottle. The pencil shaving sprinkled over the aftertaste has excellent substance and impressive length, making this classic Pauillac a wine you can enjoy for 25 or 30 years.

Château Berliquet 2018

The 2018 Château Berliquet vintage departs from its predecessors, showcasing a shift from austerity to elegance.

This stylistic change is evident from the start of our tasting, with the wine offering powerful blue fruit, giving plummy and forward flavours that linger. The palate is dense, hinting at its potential; lengthen is medium. This is the first vintage crafted by Nicolas Audebert and the technical team at Canon following Chanel's acquisition of the estate in 2017. The blend is a unique combination of 78% Merlot and 22% Cabernet Franc. Scores are reasonably high, such as:

96 points Jeb Dunnuck

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 colour as well as a complex, layered style in its black raspberry, white flowers, dried earth, spice, and forest floor aromas and flavours. It's medium to full-bodied and has a rounded, expansive texture, beautiful tannins, brilliant freshness and purity, and 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. (5/2019). Edited.

95 points, James Suckling

A fine and fruity red with blueberries and blackberries and hints of walnuts. Medium to full body and ultra-fine tannins that melt into the body of the wine. It's muscular in some ways. Lots of potential. Punchy. (3/2019). Edited.

95 points Wine Advocate

This was Nicolas Audebert's first vintage at Berliquet since Chanel acquired the property in the autumn of 2017. The most significant, immediate change from 2018 came from noticing that blocks of the vineyard had Merlot and Cabernet Franc interplanted. These used to be harvested together. This year, the different cultivars were flagged and harvested separately to achieve optimal ripeness for both varieties. The 2018 Berliquet is blended with 78% Merlot and 22% Cabernet Franc and has 14.5% alcohol. Deep purple-black, it leaps from the glass with bold kirsch, blueberry compote and Black Forest cake with touches of cloves, lavender, menthol and lilacs. Medium to full-bodied and elegant, with lovely freshness lifting the densely packed blue and black fruit flavours, it has a velvety texture and long, earthy finish. (LPB) (4/2019). Edited.

94 points Wine Spectator

This is a focused, restrained style, with cherry, plum, and red currant notes carried by persistent chalky minerality. It shows a light tobacco shading throughout (JM, Web Only-2019). Edited.

Rqauzan Segla 2011, 2017 and 1988

All vintages(2011, 2017 and 1988) look young and robust enough, with a tight rim. All vintages give a consistent, confident, complex nose of floral, black cherry, truffle, thyme, and plum aromas (compared to the En Primeur Team tasted back then). Full-bodied, rich, and concentrated drinking in 2011 has a good structure. 2017 gives clean fruit and tastes modern. Back to traditionality, 1988 gives a complex, dry fruit, minerality and classic spice.

Rauzan Seglas is well-liked by us because of its:

1. Silky smooth tannins and freshness (premium fruit quality, sorting, parcel by parcel vinification, relatively low alcohol at 13.5% still despite higher merlot content used) that lingers on your palate and adds exceptional ripeness to it(higher merlot composition for the class, manual harvest);

2. Vigorous mid-palate intensity good structure(increased to 10,000 vines per hectare, efficient drainage with a new drainage system, crop thinning, smaller vats);

3. Reasonable complexity integrated primary, secondary and tertiary tones(4 royal grapes by design);

4. Medium Power(vinification takes place at 35 Celsius for suitable extraction, malolactic fermentation in smaller vats for fixing even better fruit, the wine aged in an average 60% new, French oak barrels for between 18 months, hence the richness)

Of course, this wine holds a special place amongst veteran importers because John Kolasa, the winemaker, was and still is a friend to many Hong Kong tasters. He was replaced in 2014 by LVMH's other winemaker.

It is priced super effectively as a Super Second of Margaux (sic, President Thomas Jefferson of USA), coupled with the ability to age and develop. If you like Margaux, 2017, Rauzan Segla deserves a place in your cellar. 2011 is more for immediate consumption, and 1988 is for nostalgic appreciation.

Full decanting is recommended. That evening, when we tasted it, its virtues come close to frailty, as if silence speaks even more than the sound of music and cadence tells as much as arpeggios. It is a wine for dining at candlelight and whispers, accompanied by good dishes and an intimate friend.