Chateau Beauregard 2008: Some cream evident here on the nose, swirled with blackberries. Attractive and rich fruit on the palate, with some nice and firm tannins, this is nicely structured, balanced, and harmonious. Fresh, with elegant acidity. A lovely effort. 17-18+/20

Chateau Bonalgue 2008: Vanilla and blackberry here on the nose. The palate has a gentle start, but is finely poised, with good acidity. Attractive in the middle, fleshy, slightly grippy, well rounded but with fairly firm tannins, especially at the finish. A touch hot here also. 15.5-16.5/20

Chateau Le Bon Pasteur 2008: Perfumed, chalky red fruits on the nose. Really attractive palate, opening into a creamy texture, with a ripe and supple tannic backbone. Fresh acids provide a lot of welcome counterbalance, and there is a nice substance to the finish. This has an appealing style. 16-17+/20

Chateau Bourgneuf-Vayron 2008: This has an attractive nose, rather toasty, but with nicely appealing dark fruits. Fresh on the palate, quite well balanced, with a fresh and gentle substance over a ripe tannic backbone and appropriate extract. A good style which has an awful lot of appeal to my palate. 17.5-18.5+/20

Chateau La Cabanne 2008: Last year I failed to even generate a score on the 2007. This vintage the wine seems withdrawn on the nose. The palate is structured, with a rather juicy texture, and firm tannins underneath. It isn't very expressive and the structure seems hard, perhaps rather austere. It has a rather meaty finish and some length. Certainly a better effort though. 15-16+?/20 

Chateau Certan de May 2008: Plump berry fruit on the nose, dark and smoky in character, perhaps oak-derived? Nice flesh on entry, with gentle and polished fruit texture. Good, ripe but substantial tannins, with nice aromatics. This has a softer style than some, but there is elegance here, and muted acidity. It is less vivacious than some wines in the Moueix line-up, but nevertheless it has fine potential for development. 17-18+/20

Chateau Certan Marzelle 2008: Smoky, charcoal-tinged fruit, an oak effect I would think. Sweet, very fleshy, well-textured win on the palate, witha lovely creamy substance. Very tangible extract, but appropriate, with a firm backbone of tannin well covered by the substance of the wine. Firm acidity too. This is very good indeed. 17-18+/20

Chateau Clinet 2008: Dense, creamy, dark fruit, but also fresh and perfumed. A firm palate, moderately fleshy but quite linear, defined and structured. There is a very good substance to it, a little meatiness, and ripe tannins. A dense vin de garde meant for the cellar. 17.5-18.5+?/20

Clos du Clocher 2008: Nice and birght aromatics on the nose here, with vanilla, black pepper and cream. The palate is very gentle, although more structured through the midpalate, with some overt tannins here. Restrained fruit, gently chewy, certainly attractive. A grippy finish. A touch austere and in need of the cellar for sure. 16-17+/20

Chateau La Commanderie de Mazeyres 2008: Tasted twice. A somewhat paler wine than many of its peers, with a cooked fruit nose. The palate is soft, oily, rounded, with a touch of burnt fat flavour. There is some grip behind it thankfully, but overall this seems detached and very strange. So much so I retasted later with the same impression. 12.5-13.5+/20

Chateau La Conseillante 2008: Hugely aromatic sweet fruit on the nose here, sweet and elegant, with evident purity and enticing red fruit character. The palate is lovely, creamy but with style and finesse. A fine density, ripe and silky tannins, but that purity is maintained. Great potential here, one of the best wines of the commune for sure. 18-19+/20

Chateau La Croix de Gay 2008: Smoke, bacon fat, chalk and red fruits on the nose, before a palate of lightly fleshy texture, bright and defined, with a perfumed, chalky-violet style. Some grip, and good acidity, and a polished texture. Good wine, good potential. 16-17+/20

Chateau La Croix Taillefer 2008: An intense nose, with perfumed and confected fruit, a little bright. The palate is big and creamy, although it immediately seems to flatten out to a crisper style, with lots of crunchy blackberry and cranberry fruit. Lightly textured in truth, stylish but with a firm grip beneath, this has good potential. 16-17+/20

Clos l'Église 2008: Nice, fairly perfumed fruit on the nose, intense and plummy, with a violet edge. The palate starts attractively, creamy and rounded, rather svelte in texture, with raspberry and cream character. Very flattering, with nice midpalate acidity. Later on it shows a more brawny, cakey character to the fruit. A good grip at the finish, and some length too. 16.5-17.5+/20

Domaine de l'Église 2008: A vibrant nose, with blackberry cream, lavender and violets, with a little hint of cola the only detractor. The palate is fresh, sweet, textured and rather flashy. A supple structure lies beneath, elegant although very primary. Nicely composed, with well coated tannins and a good ripe grip at the edge. 16.5-17.5+/20

Chateau La Fleur de Gay 2008: Rather subdued on the nose, with ripe fruits. The palate seems rather withdrawn, showing little fruit today, but with burnt toast character and fairly moderate acidity. It has a little tannic grip and even seems a little austere. I think there could be very good potential here. 15.5-16.5+/20

Chateau La Fleur-Pétrus 2008: Bright and crystalline fruit on the nose here, although with a good plummy style. Dense, creamy, textured, sweet fruit coating the tannins which are firm, fairly well polished, with good fruit. A well-judged wine indeed, full of potential. I like this very much. 17.5-18.5+/20

Chateau Gazin 2008: Dense and creamy fruit here, pure but rich, and perhaps just a little meaty. A lighter style as it starts out on the palate, fresh, broad and open. Less sweet texture, firm, rather hard structure compared to some of its peers. Extracted and indeed a little tinny, with lots of acid. This will need to fatten out to really satisfy, which it may do. 15.5-16.5+/20

Chateau La Grave à Pomerol 2008: This is the property once named La Grave Trignant de Boisset after a previous owner, which I have tasted in older vintages. In this vintage it has less expressive character, with some red and leafy fruit. The palate is well polished, stony, with a fresh, lightly perfumed middle. Gentle, reserved, balanced, but with slightly hard tannins which give a firm grip beneath and through to the finish. Very good potential though. 17-18+/20

Chateau Hosanna 2008: Fine fruit on the nose here, crystalline, gently sweet, with a lovely sweet and broad texture to the fruit on the palate. Good, nicely polished tannins, very firm acids, An aromatic finish, quite seamlessly textured, with very good potential. Really attractive and full of promise. 17-18+/20

Chateau Lafleur-Gazin 2008: From the vineyard sitting between Lafleur and Gazin, in this vintage this is less open on the nose, firm and dark, preceding a reserved and elegantly composed palate at the beginning. This certainly has some middle, underpinned by a firm but ripe structure, and nicely fresh acidity. A little touch of polished fruit complexity to it too; very good potential here. 17-18+/20

Chateau Latour à Pomerol 2008: Good dark plummy fruit, lovely and fresh, with a red fruit character. The texture is silky, stylish, and centres around a cool core of tannins. Well polished, with fresh acidity, and a good balance. With a little more weight I am sure this would be an excellent wine. 17.5-18.5+/20

Chateau Le Moulin 2008: A bright and fresh nose here, with red fruits, chalk and violets. Easygoing on the palate, ripe and supple, with rather low acidity. It has soft and sandy fruit, rather a soft focus, and lacks a little vigour. 13.5-14.5+/20

Chateau Nenin 2008: This wine, 81% Merlot and 19% Cabernet Franc, has a more exotic aroma profile then Fugue, with notes suggestive of scented plums rubbed on stones. The palate is at first weighty and dense, but then much more restrained and better judged through the middle. Still quite firm though, and a charcoaly edge here too, a touch chewy and hard on the finish. But it has good acids. 16.5-17.5+/20

Fugue de Nenin 2008: The second wine of Nenin, 84% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc. Perfumed raspberry and chalk here, with a nice creamy start. Quite firm, slightly austere through the middle, although there is a lot of substance to it. Underneath there are charcoaly-sooty tannins, and this character persists onto the finish. A very firm, extracted style, but a decent second wine I suppose. 13.5-14.5+/20

Chateau Petit Village 2008: Dense, cola-tinged fruit on the nose here. The palate has dense, stony, cranberry fruit, with lots of tannin and structure underneath. Ripe, but a bit chewy, with less fruit than I would have expected from the tannins and extract. This is a leaner, more stony style. 15-16+/20

Petrus 2008: Really very impressive style on the nose here, with rich, ripe, plump but stylishly fresh fruits dominating. The palate has a silky start to it, and the quality of the tannins clearly sets this wine apart from the rest of the Moueix portfolio in this vintage. They have a very ripe and polished character, providing elegance but also substance. The palate builds in terms of impact, with a firm and fresh acidity throughout. A very admirable wine with fine potential. 18-19+/20

Le Pin 2008:  This was a blend created before my eyes by Jacques Thienpont from three barrels, the first two being Le Pin proper, the third giving just a small addition of press wine. So it is merely a representation of 2008 Le Pin rather than the finished wine. The aromatics are fine, perfumed damsons, with a crystalline character like many other wines of this vintage. Ripe and concentrated on the palate, beautifully precise concentration, elegant and well delineated, with pure, floral, damson fruit. Fine and yet velvety tannins, this has a fine and very long style. Greatness is assured. 18.5-19.5+/20

Chateau Plince 2008:  Toasty oak on the nose here, alongside smoky fruit, overall very nice aromatics. A nice creamy start, firmer midpalate, slightly sooty extracted tannins giving a hard structure. A middleweight with a firm, tannic structure. Nice potential though. 16.5-17.5+/20

Chateau La Pointe 2008: The aromas suggest dark fruits, and sweeter nuances than some, and yet it has a fairly crisp style on the palate. Cranberry fruit sits over a layer of ripe tannin, good extract and decent acidity. There is a somewhat rustic edge to the composition but nevertheless a better and more approachable effort in this vintage. 15.5-16.5+/20

Chateau Providence 2008: The nose here has some muted fruit and a brighter, crystalline style. It is quite fleshy at the start, and shows ripe and extracted tannins, with really quite heavy structure. There is a lot of punch and substance here, but it is quite heavily worked. Nevertheless a nice wine. 16-17+/20

Romulus 2008: Dark and smoky fruit, sweet too. Very elegant but creamy opening on the palate, although rather a dry tannic backbone through the middle. There is a fairly good layer of sweet fruit though, and a fleshy, grippy, rich and fairly extracted substance. A big and bold style. Could be very good. 16-17+/20

Chateau Trotanoy 2008: Rather serious and reserved nose, with a firm, plum skin quality. The palate is very fleshy though, with a very nice fruit quality. Good tannins, ripe although substantial and meaty. They are very well covered by the fruit, although being critical there is a little hint of flatness to the texture through the midpalate. But there is a fine substance to it, and a big tannic finish. This could be excellent. 17-18+/20

Vieux Chateau Certan 2008: This is 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the highest proportion of the last of these three for some time. The nose is perfumed, layered, dense, but fresh and minerally. Creamy, rounded, sweet and aromatic on the palate, with power behind this first layer. Very floral, pretty, with bright acidity and wonderful depth and texture. Polished, silky tannins, multi-layered and direct, this is fabulous wine. 18.5-19.5+/20

Chateau Vray Croix de Gay 2008: Vibrant raspberry and plum on the nose here, with a darker, slightly meaty element hiding behind. The palate starts off lean and chalky, with more suppleness coming through in the midpalate. Light, elegant, quite fresh, with subtle cherry fruit. A nice style. 14-15+/20

Chateau Bertineau St Vincent (Lalande de Pomerol) 2008: A wine from the Rolland collection. Bright, rather perfumed fruit on the nose. A very sweet texture on the palate, with a lot of extract underneath. Lots of tannic substance to it as well, and over all a perfumed, violet fruit. This has a very sweet substance to it and should drink well. 15.5-16.5+/20

Bonnes-Rives (Lalande de Pomerol) 2008: An intense and rather dark style of fruit, with a little tinge of cola. Fairly fresh on the palate though, lightly structured, dry, although with more chewy extract in the midpalate. The texture seems a little underpowered considering the frame of the wine. Nice weight though. 15-16+/20

Chateau Siaurac (Lalande de Pomerol) 2008: Minerally red fruits on the nose here, with a rather leafy-sandy character to them. Fresh, gentle, lightly textured on the palate, this has some attractive fruit although it is in a lighter but certainly balanced style. Rather fleshy endpalate, showing a little grip too. 15-16+/20

La Fleur de Boüard (Lalande de Pomerol) 2008: Tasted twice. This has a great nose, rather deep and meaty and dark, but super-ripe and rich and even hinting at blueberry and blackcurrant complexity. A similarly rich character to the palate, textured and weighty, but defined and balanced. Good acids and a firm finish. This has substance and ripeness. An admirable wine. 16.5-17.5+/20

Le Plus de la Fleur de Boüard (Lalande de Pomerol) 2008: A super-cuvée fermented in wide, low OVNI fermentation vats, increasing skin contact and thus reducing the need for punching down or pumping over the cap. Then into new oak for close to three years. Deep and smoky fruit on the nose, very aromatic and rich. Slightly creamy fruit, textured and stylish, smoothly polished but flashy too. Impressive, big, quite structured style, different but not necessarily better. 16.5-17.5+/20