Château-les-Grandes-Murailles Saint Emilion 2016

The 2016 Les Grandes Murailles has quite a high- toned bouquet featuring blue and blackberry fruit mixed with violets. The palate is rich and decadent on the opening, featuring layers of sweet black fruit, and luscious in style, but it manages to retain balance and detail on the finish. Give this time, because there is a classy Saint-Émilion here. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

Lots of spicy oak, spring flowers, and cassis and blue fruit characteristics emerge from the 2016 Château Les Grandes Murailles. Possessing a slightly modern style, medium-bodied richness, obvious minerality, and fine tannins, it has a terrific sense of elegance and, again, minerality, and I suspect it's going to show classic Saint-Emilion character with 4-5 years of bottle age. This estate is owned by the Cuvelier family of Clos Fourtet, and you can certainly see the high quality here.

Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2016 Grandes Murailles gives up expressive scents of raspberries, blackberries and warm plums with touches of dried herbs, tobacco and new leather. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the palate with savory-laced black fruits and a chewy texture, finishing with a compelling herbal lift.