Château de Fieuzal Blanc (Pessac-Léognan) 1994: Strangely, although there are none of the tartrate crystals that I saw in my last bottle, there is a really unusual brown, blobby deposit on the underside of the cork. And without a doubt there is, before the wine relaxes and releases any more interesting aromas, an undeniable seam of oxidation coming in here. The hue is a firm lemon-gold and aromatically, alongside this papery-nutty element, there are notes of orange fruit and dried driftwood. In terms of aroma and flavour, it is a very 'brown' wine, showing papery nut, old wooden desks, with tinges of dried toffee and walnut. There is still plenty of acid and structure though, so this adds a frame to these rather evolved, oxygen-influenced characteristics. All in all this is quite attractive, although whereas on one hand I rather enjoy the challenging, savoury-sour aspects of it, on the other it would be easy to right it off as oxidised and over-the-hill. But there are just too many points of interest here for me to do that. 16/20

Domaine de Chevalier (Pessac-Léognan) 1994: A lovely maturing hue here, with a mahogany tinge. The aromatics are very reassuring, still with a youthful vibrancy even after seventeen years, with a juniper berry freshness cut with hints of redcurrant and just-ripe blackberry, and in layers o top of this hints of minerals, attractively bitter fruits, bay leaf and smoke. The start on the palate is very cool and refined, well framed, savoury and with mouth-watering acidity, It has the sort of structure and crunchy fruit profile that would have lovers of modern Bordeaux running for the hills. Through the midpalate this style remains apparent, giving a very clean and clipped style, with a fresh and acid bound finish. It does have a certain fullness to it though, as although this is no creamily-styled modern Bordeaux there is certainly some substance here. In the finish, cranberry fruit, and all the acid that berry usually carries. It certainly has a clean, well framed substance. Overall, I like this, but it does have a lighter and more acidic backbone in keeping with the traditional view of the vintage. 16/20

Château Haut-Bailly (Pessac-Léognan) 1994: From a half-bottle. A dark, rather matt, maturing hue. Aromatically this has a lot of instant appeal, although it needs a couple of hours in the decanter to really get going. There is a fresh violet-tinged perfume, with a chalky red-fruit tinge, and it is also showing notes of stone and seashell. This is still exhibiting a youthful, fresh-fruit character on the palate, with a gentle but undeniable seam of softening tannin and fresh acidity. The texture reflects the vintage, stony and firm, but with a restrained flesh, and the perfume is certainly quite delightful. A lovely, slightly sappy style here, with a long, fresh finish. Overall this has real charm and even some delicacy; I really like this wine. 17/20

Château Cos d'Estournel (St Estèphe) 1994: This has a moderately dense hue, showing some maturity. The nose is remarkably perfumed, with a glorious roasted St Estèphe character, lightly gamey although this lies behind a complex and quite forceful melange of aromas, nuances of gravel and stones, clay too, and a rich, organic aroma suggestive of dark tea leaves, green olives and juniper berries, or perhaps a mix of them all. It has a firm and serious, very savoury character, dense with nothing sweet or soft or fruity about it. This is classic old-school Bordeaux, and gives plenty of olfactory joy. It has a really good presence on entry, and although it doesn't have the grand and flattering flesh of warmer and more favourable vintages there is without doubt a great substance here. There is a really grippy and savoury character which pervades on the palate, and the structure is very fine, with lovely and ripe if rather gritty tannin, and fresh acidity. And in the finish, a long and dry, stern and savoury character, with nuances of dry bitterness reminiscent of coffee-ground astringency. Really lovely, transcending the low-level reputation of the vintage. I'm sorry this is my last bottle! 18/20

Château Haut-Bages-Libéral (Pauillac) 1994: Showing maturity here in appearance at least, a dark and solid core, but with a wide and dusty rim which shows a red hue with a touch of brick. The nose is certainly perfumed, showing a violetty floral twist to the gentle cedary aromatics, which also has some deeper characteristics than previously noted, including dark liquorice with burnt, smoky overtones, and savoury suggestions of black olive. There's also something slightly green and complex, like angelica or even green pepper but it is subtle and I find it appealing. The palate still shows a rather angular substance which is why this vintage comes in for such criticism from some quarters, but it has certainly softened. There is perhaps a little more kick to it through the middle and towards the end, and although I sense more evolution in terms of flavour I wonder if the structure won't fall apart before this gets anywhere. Attractive, with a nice little hint of sweetness in the end. All the same, if I had any more I would drink sooner rather than later I think. 15.5/20

Château Haut-Batailley (Pauillac) 1994: This takes an hour or so to really open up in the decanter, shifting from its initially hard and withdrawn state to a much more harmonious one. A maturing oxblood hue with a fading, brick red rim. The nose relaxes into a perfumed, meaty fruit character, dense seemingly iron-bound fruit with fleeting nuances of violets and roasted meats, although with time the floral element does seem to gain more prominence. Softly textured at first, elegant, then showing a more chalky substance through the middle, and still revealing a rather hard, austere, iron-bound structure, with a degree of phenolic bitterness. I find increasing softness and texture with a little more time in the glass though, backed up by firm grip and acidity. This could drink very well for many years with this degree of backbone. Appealing wine. 16.5/20

Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac) 1994: As usual an attractively dark hue in the glass, still tending towards red in colour rather than anything overtly mature. It doesn't take long to open up, less than an hour in the decanter, and it starts to show maturing aromas of aromatic black tea leaves alongside the notes of black olives, green peppercorn and mint. In fact it shows in a fashion very similar to my note from late 2010. The palate has only a moderate weight in keeping with the vintage, which can show beautiful classicism but rarely a great deal of flesh. The structure of the wine follows this rule, with a dry tannic bite. Good acids, altogether bright and composed, but with the usual challenging composition. This works very well now with roast beef or similar, but it still needs time for this tannic backbone to resolve completely. No rush here. 17/20

Château Léoville-Las-Cases (St Julien) 1994: This wine shows an undeniable tinge of maturity as it hits the decanter, but at its core there is plenty of red pigment. It isn't the most expressive wine on the nose at first, and despite remaining in contact with the air for several hours it doesn't really develop in this respect. There is a little dark and smoky-dusty fruit, with subtle elements of seashell and black olive behind. Its character on the palate reflects this rather reserved and stolid character on the nose, as it shows a fine structure with a good weight and sweet, dusty tannins combined with nuanced notes of violets and a gentle perfume of tea leaf. Supple, with an overt structure although it is balanced by a gentle, sinewy flesh, And in the finish, just a little trace of muscly tannin. Attractive, a very good claret for roast beef or similar I think. Ready, but no rush; I suspect this will be good for ten years yet, and probably much longer than that. 17/20

Château Léoville-Barton (St Julien) 1994: A deeply coloured wine, giving no suggestion that this might be regarded as a 'lesser' vintage. And in terms of age it shows a little bricking around the rim. but it still has a rich core of red-black fruit. With a couple of hours in the decanter this really opens out, revealing a perfumed maturing Cabernet Sauvignon nose, full of violets, savoury and thick-skinned black fruits, with a dusty edge bringing the richness of black olives crushed with chalk, and sprinkled with a little freshly-picked mint. A nice flesh at the start, as I have found on previous assessments of this wine, and this tangible substance persists through the middle, where it underpins flavours of cigar box and lightly roasted fruit. The tannins provide a firm backbone and although very upright they are in no way dry or green. The flesh apparent here continues through to the end of the wine, which lingers nicely. Overall this is a very appealing, classically styled wine which still has years and years ahead of it. 17.5/20

Château Léoville-Poyferré (St Julien) 1994: This has a remarkable dense hue, with an obviously evolved, mahogany hue despite the near-opaque appearance. The nose has a fine aromatic quality, rich in balsamic tones, very evolved but also bright and forceful. It is also very clean - should the term balsamic suggest something vinegary let me be clear this is not so - there is nothing acetic here. Instead we have sweet perfumed black fruits, overlaid with dark liquorice with an angelica sweetness, moving into a richness that even suggests treacle toffee sprinkled with burnt raspberries. Aromatically, it is enticing and convincing. It is on the palate that the character of the vintage shows, the balsamic and liquorice fruit, mixed here with graphite, stone, black olive and tar, carried along within a surprisingly lean texture. For my palate it works well, and I like the precise edge of the texture in combination with that very savoury fruit profile, but many drinkers of modern Bordeaux may wonder where the flesh and sweetness is. This all flows through the palate very well, accepting this edgy texture, and towards the end it does indeed show a richer body, and there is a little length as well, although always with that crunchy, crushed, fruit-skin feel to it. The tannins show a little in the finish too, adding just a little sharpness, but otherwise this seems perfectly integrated now. Delicious. Drinking well, although it will keep for some time yet. 17.5/20

Château Troplong-Mondot (St Emilion) 1994: A good colour here, dark concentrated and with a mature rim. The nose is really enticing, starting off with some delightfully perfumed fruit redolent of violets dusted with soot, before developing a savoury, evolved, spiced fruit character. It is exquisitely expressive and certainly full of appeal. After an hour or two of exposure to air in the decanter the palate shows an appealing substance, restrained rather than fleshy, but certainly not lean or aggressive. It is supple and yet rather detached, with a really good grip behind the perfumed fruit here. The tannins are fading but still give a fine backbone, the finish slightly dry and dense, and quite long. Classically restrained, fresh but with appropriate acidity, and yet with a gentle caress to it providing a sense of harmony rather than anything more sharp. I still really like this. And it has just 13% alcohol! 17/20

Vieux Château Certan (Pomerol) 1994: An elegant hue, slowly fading out to a mature rim. A fine nose which takes a good few hours to open up, revealing an aromatic perfume as it does so. Mature macerated fruit, baked forest fruits and berries, with elements of soot giving way to notes of black tea leaves and freshly-milled flour. Supple and with appealing flesh on the palate, showing just a touch more density than some of the other wines tasted here, although the Troplong-Mondot gives it a strong run for its money. This softness soon yields though to a more powerful sense of spice and grip, the wine revealing through the midpalate a sense of urgency, a vigour and energy which powers the wine through the midpalate. There is, behind it all, a sense of polished but peppery fruit waiting in the wings, and in the finish there is a definite twist of spicy tannin and grip. This is a wine which, while showing an admittedly substantial readiness through the middle, clearly states in the finish that it has more to give. Sadly, this is my only bottle. My major criticism is lack of mature perfume or complexity; it seems elegant, composed, and this wine deserves credit for that, but there doesn't seem to be the extra layer that we should find at the quality level. All the same, certainly a wine that gives pleasure. 17/20

Château Coutet (Barsac) 1994: Only a mid-golden hue here, certainly not a colour suggesting great concentration or mature complexity. The nose starts off rather tame, showing a little smoky fruit and also a little matchsticky note; this latter element largely blows off, although the wine never really shakes off a slightly volatile, painty aroma alongside the fruit. Nicely textured on the start of the palate, rather fresh, still with that matchsticky element here, but also the suggestion of something smoky, and a hint of volcanic minerality. Sweet, gently composed, with yellow pastille fruit. It has rather an anonymous finish. Quickly fades, seems rather muted at this point. Overall this is certainly not a great example of Coutet, but it was not a vintage that favoured the wines of Sauternes and Barsac. 15/20