Bordeaux, Château La Tour Carnet, Haut-Médoc Grand Cru, FR, 2018

60% Merlot 40% Cabernet Sauvignon

93pts Decanter

Once again Magrez has made a very enjoyable wine at this estate. There's a ton of fruit on offer and it has been extracted liberally but with care. The construction and the architecture feel more like 2010 and 2016 than many of its peers in 2018. It's a good wine that's clearly going to age exceptionally well. It has notes of blackcurrant, blackberry, dark chocolate, liquorice and black pepper. It has layers of complexity and enough acidity to rein in the exuberance.

92pts James Suckling

Blueberries, plums and blackberries, as well as herbal notes. It’s medium-to full-bodied with solid, tight tannins. Fine texture with pleasant acidity and a nice grain. Blackcurrant and light tar in the aftertaste. Try after 2024.

The history of La Tour Carnet is inextricably linked with that of France. The name of the property, for instance, comes from the name of the estate’s horseman who unfailingly aided his master to fight off French royalty at the end of the One Hundred Years War. Then, after having played a major role in the revolution of the Médoc vineyard, La Tour Carnet was duly recognised for the quality of its wine, when the estate was ranked in the 1855 classification of Grands Crus. The diversity of its terroir on the one hand, and the constant search for perfection on the other, have made this Haut-Médoc an outstanding growth.