Vivid aromas with currants, mushrooms and dried flowers. Tar. Full-bodied, layered and polished. Show texture and richness. Juicy and lightly decadent.

The 2015 Saint-Pierre has a scintillating nose of brilliantly defined black fruit with superb mineralite. You can feel the energy coming from this bouquet. The medium-bodied palate is precise and pixelated, displaying fine-grained tannin and wonderful balance, leading to an exquisite, detailed, almost Margaux-like finish. Utterly graceful. This impressed me so much just after bottling, far more than in barrel, and assessed blind against its peers, it representsa convincing argument that Saint-Pierre is becoming one of the go-to Saint-Julien crus. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.

The 2015 Saint-Pierre is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc matured for 14 months in 50% new and 50% one-year-old barrels. Deep garnet-purple in color, it offers expressive blackberries, black currants and stewed black plums on the nose with suggestions of menthol, rare beef, black olives and tobacco. Medium-bodied and tautly structured with ripe, grainy tannins and a lively backbone with vibrant, muscular form, it finishes long and savory.

This wine has a very toasty style, with spice and wood tannins that give an extracted character with some bitterness. That contrasts with the fruit that is developing, and it seems that the wood will integrate over time.