Chateau Cote de Baleau 2021

JEB DUNNUCK: "The 2021 Château Côte de Baleau, which comes from a northern facing hillside vineyard next to Fonroque, is impressive and certainly worth your time and money. A blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc from 35-year-old vines, it offers a great bouquet of ripe blackcurrants, tobacco, loamy earth, and spicy oak. Medium-bodied yet concentrated on the palate, I like its tannins, it's balanced, and it has a great finish."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, opaker Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Zartes Nougat, reife Pflaumen, etwas offenes Bukett. Saftig, reife Kirschen, dezente Süße, präsente Tannine, frisch strukturiert, schokoladig-mineralischer Nachhall."

JAMES SUCKLING: "Plenty of blueberry and black cherry with some walnut and spice undertones. Medium body. Creamy, medium tannins."

DECANTER: "Gorgeous, darkly scented nose with dark chocolate and herbal tones. Textured and chalky straight away, the crushed stone and graphite elements coming through strongly alongside the fruit, with dense and chewy tannins. It's a little serious right now but this has an appealing mouthcoating aspect to it, with the bitter chocolate and bramble fruit edges coming back in on the finish. I like the identity of this."