2007 Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux

Rated - No tasting note given.

(15.5% alcohol; harvested in three passes through the vines) Very pale color. Pungent, complex nose offers candied lemon peel, white peach, a note of honey and piquant mineral lift. Extremely powerful on the palate, with flavors of white peach and minerals and a chewy impression of extract. Boasts incredible volume and explosive fruit but today I am aware of the wine's high alcohol. Perhaps most impressive on the extraordinarily tactile finish: this struck me as one of the longest wines of any color or type that I tasted on my spring Bordeaux tour.

Tasted blind at the 2007 Bordeaux horizontal in Southwold. This is far more attractive on the nose than other wines in this flight with peach, grapefruit and apricot blossom, with very fine definition, more Condrieu in style than I expected. The palate has a spicy entry and a citric thread of acidity, but it lacks a little complexity towards the pear skin/spicy finish. I think this will improve with bottle age. Tasted January 2011.

Very pale straw. Luscious, sweet nose. Sleek, greenish notes but lovely depth too. Fine and delicate but also rich on the palate. 15.5% but not at all evident. Very cool yet rich. Total acidity (**?sulphuric) 4g/l, pH 3.35. Not at all heavy or oily. Good whole. Racy, powdery and so clean and racy! Great stuff!!! Strict selection. (JR)