Effectively half-and-half Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this is a tremendous wine. With very fine tannins, spice from a touch of wood and swathes of ripe fruits give this wine its concentration and its huge potential. The wine has weight and a dark, dense structure that will allow it to age for many years. Drink from 2027.

This has a dense, muscular core of warm blackberry, black currant and fig paste flavors, shrouded under a cloak of tobacco and loam. Not shy on toast and balanced by a hefty ganache edge, this isn't heady at all, just a terrific expression of the muscular, loamy style. Best from 2026 through 2040. 8,335 cases made.

The 2014 Angelus has developed with some panache during its barrel maturation and now in bottle, it conveys attractive blackberry, briary and vanilla pod aromas, the oak neatly integrated. It is not the most powerful bouquet that Hubert de Boüard de Laforest has ever overseen, though it offers precision and focus. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, a crisp line of acidity, quite compact and linear in the mouth with a subtle oyster-shell note that tinctures the black fruit towards the persistent finish. It is no showstopper, yet there is craftsmanship and terroir-expression here and it should drink well for two decades.