Tasted blind at the 2007 Bordeaux horizontal in Southwold. Jean-Pascale Vazart is overseeing some wonderful wines from this Pomerol stalwart and even off-vintages such as 2007 are no exception. It has fine delineation on the nose with macerated dark cherries, creme de cassis, blueberry compote and a touch of crushed stone. Fine delineation. The palate has a rounded, sensual entry, slightly lower acidity than others, caressing sumptuous dark cherry and cassis fruit towards the finish that lingers long in the mouth. Irresistible. Tasted January 2011.

(86% merlot and 14% cabernet franc) Good deep red-ruby. Aromas of black raspberry, bitter chocolate, minerals and licorice; this smells ripe. The palate offers lovely sucrosite and floral lift to the rather voluptuous, enveloping flavors, with slightly edgy acidity giving the wine a penetrating quality. The firm tannins seem a bit abrupt, but the finish shows an enticing chocolatey ripeness. The fruit here came in with potential alcohol in the fairly high 13.5% range, noted estate manager Vazart, who told me that a saignee of just 3% was done.

This dark ruby-colored, medium-weight l’Evangile exhibits creamy blackberry and raspberry fruit, a superficial attack, but plenty of charm, silky tannin, and low acidity make for a delicious wine to drink over the next 7-8 years.

14% Cabernet Franc. Complex, intriguing nose. Deep flavours. Really very unusually, heady aroma. Then good attack – mouthfilling with great ripe fruit on the front palate and then good balance of acid and tannin. Round, not for the very long term, but lots of stuffing – more so than most wines. Quite long. Silky texture. Really pretty snazzy.