St Emilion:

Chateau Berliquet 2004: A nose of peppered raspberries and blackberries, with plums too, in a very fresh, crisp style which I find attractive. Midweight, elegant, with earthy black fruit flavour and a smoky edge. Tannins are appropriate, well covered by fruit, giving a good grip, but with a balanced, attractive style. A short finish. 16/20

Chateau Canon 2004: A more seductive style on the nose here, with appealing, plump, plum and blackberry aromas. Rather plush on the palate, with a cushion of fruit over ripe tannins and some fresh acids. Rather svelte in style, welcoming, but with good grip beneath. Balanced and structured, this is fine. 17+/20

Chateau Canon-la-Gaffelière 2004: Even deeper, even plusher in style. Dark plum fruit, with some nutty oak in harmony, but with a lifted vibrancy, an almost perfumed character. Very attractive. There is elegance on the palate, a reserved style, not over-extracted, just a firm, youthful grip, but with appropriate fruit and texture. Red fruits on the finish, and a good length. Very good. 17.5+/20

Chateau Figeac 2004: A darker, more brooding nose here. Perfumed, but with dark, slightly confit fruit. Nutty oak. Attractive presence on the palate, svelte yet reserved, velvety tannins through the midpalate, overall a firm, appealing although masculine style. Good, grippy finish. Very good indeed. 17+/20

Clos Fourtet 2004: A very expressive nose, with dark, plummy fruit and fine, nut oil oak. The palate is very soft, warm and welcoming, with a plump, bosomy style. Then, through the midpalate, some grippy tannins slowly build. It all fits together very well, rounding off in a fine, grippy finish. Good acids. 17.5+/20

Chateau Grand Mayne 2004: A very sweet, buttery, blackberry and oak nose. It borders on confected. Full, creamy on entry, but with a hollowness, a lack of presence, that persists. Lots of flavour though, black fruits and fruitcake, with good length. But lacks harmony of structure and texture. 14.5/20

Chateau La Gaffelière 2004: Rather muted nose, but some great blackberry fruit aromas coming up from the glass at times. Tannins rather obvious and perhaps even extraneous on the palate; there is fruit and texture, but a sense of dried out over-extraction. Good at best. 14/20

Chateau La Tour Figeac 2004: Lots of expressive dark fruit and nutty oak here, with a buttery edge. Nicely textured, with firm grippy tannins, but a good presence of fruit as well. Firmly structured, and should come good in the cellar. 16+/20

Chateau Larcis Ducasse 2004: A lovely, very forward and open blackberry nose with a herby nuance. Svelte style, with supple tannins taking up position in the background, creamy texture nicely masking the structural elements. Great acidity, and very good style. 16.5+/20

Chateau Larmande 2004: Sweet, buttery, characterful blackberry fruit. Creamy entry, full of summer fruits and a little plum. Svelte tannins beneath. Rather a persistent, silky presence on the palate, with fresh acidity. This is very good indeed, with great potential. 17.5+/20

Chateau Troplong-Mondot 2004: A lovely nose here; very ripe, plummy, Dundee cake character. This is very expressive, and it just oozes quality. Gorgeously extracted and composed palate, with a fine texture, unobtrusive, velvety-peppery tannins in a perfectly balanced frame. So complete and delineated. Really divine; certainly the wine of the tasting for me. Excellent. 18.5+/20

Chateau Trottevieille 2004: Another very expressive nose here, with some plush plum fruit and perfumed fruitcake. Fine palate, with some elegant red-black fruits. The fruit amply covers the tannins, good acidity, rounded, with a creamy style. Grippy, complete. Very good wine. 17+/20

Pomerol:

Chateau Beauregard 2004: An expressive, fruit-laden nose, with a seductive note of plum. This has a really good depth. Lovely, quite ripe, a little grippy, but the tannins nicely melded with some lovely, svelte, dark fruit. This has very good freshness and fine style. 17/20

Chateau Clinet 2004: A lovely nose here, with complex notes of thyme, black pepper and black fruits, altogether an exotic, suggestive, delightful style. Svelte, balanced, very complete, fresh with great acidity, structured but balanced, so that the tannins hardly show beneath the sweet fruit which runs through to the finish. This is excellent. 18+/20

Chateau Gazin 2004: A dark, minerally, mint-edged black fruit nose with nuances of liquorice. Lovely, complex, balanced style on the palate again here. A really velvety feel to the tannins, beautifully composed with appropriate fruit and texture, with fine, fresh acidity. Delightful quality through to the finish. Excellent. 18/20

Chateau La Conseillante 2004: Wow! This has a huge depth of sweet, black fruits that is really impressive. Ripe, velutinous style, structured, nicely extracted, very balanced, complete and gloriously rounded style. It is very primary in character at present, with just a little complex meaty-beefy note to the finish, but there is great potential here. Excellent. 18/20

Chateau La Pointe 2004: A nice presence of spiced plum fruit on the nose, with a little oak still showing. A little more obviously extracted than the other wines in this line up, showing rather raw tannins over rather than beneath the fruit. A huge grip. More dried out in character. Good, with potential, but this is the short straw among these wines. 16.5+/20

Chateau Petit Village 2004: Lovely depth here, moving back up a gear again. Plummy, fruitcake, very true to the fruit. Appealing, middling texture, balanced tannic structure, exuberant fruit, yielding to a solid grip on the finish. Very good style which will evolve well I think. 17.5+/20