En Primeur 2017

The 2017 Branaire Ducru was picked 13 September until 4 October over a three-week period, cropped at 39.6hl/ha. The alcohol here is 13.2°. The wine is aged in 60% new oak, which is how the sample was made. It has a harmonious bouquet with brambly black fruit, melted tar and tobacco scents, not powerful but precise. The palate is medium-bodied with a smooth texture, fine tannin, just a subtle savory note developing and merging nicely with the black fruit, hints of white pepper and cedar towards the poised finish that is quintessential Saint-Julien. There is an essence of drinkability about this Branaire-Ducru and I can imagine this being approachable after three to four years. This is a very fine Branaire-Ducru.

Score: 91 - 93 Neal Martin, Vinous Media.com Maturity: 2021-2040

The deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Branaire-Ducru gives up notes of baked black berries, red cherries and mulberries with touches of potpourri and smoked meats. Medium-bodied with a lively line lifting the good concentration of red and black fruits, it has a chewy frame and grippy finish.

Score: 88 - 90 Lisa Perotti-Brown MW, robertparker.com

The plum and cherry paste flavors show good energy, with floral lift and sleek graphite accents adding to the sense of range and definition. Well done.

Score: 90 - 93 James Molesworth, Wine Spectator

The deep purple-colored 2017 Château Branaire-Ducru offers a fresh, focused, classic style in 2017. Beautiful spring flowers, black and blue fruits, and a kiss of minerality all emerge from this medium-bodied effort that has nicely integrated acidity, a balanced, clean texture, and plenty of mid-palate depth. My money is on this ending up being an outstanding wine.

Score: 90 - 92 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com

The 2017 Brane-Cantenac was picked from 14 September to 2 October at 31.2hl/ha after frost destroyed 35% of the vines in April. It is matured in 75% new oak and 25% one-year old and it has 13% alcohol. It has a tightly wound bouquet with broody black fruit, tar and a touch of graphite, very Pauillac in style as usual. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, very linear and precise, not a deep Margaux and unashamedly classic in style with dry, slightly brusque tannin. The finish is dominated by tobacco and pencil lead notes with healthy pinch of pepper on the aftertaste. Classic Brane-Cantenac through and through. Tasted on three occasions.

Score: 91 - 93 Neal Martin, Vinous Media.com Maturity: 2022-2040

A lovely wine that sits extremely prettily though the palate, with a seductive expression of florality and blackberry fruits. It's not as powerful as the past two years, but is skilfully worked with soft grilled oak notes. It doesn't sacrifice the excellent quality that this estate has been producing.

Score: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2025-2038

The 2017 Brane-Cantenac opens with a good burst of fruit, but then loses some intensity in its mid-palate and finish as the tannins clamp down on the fruit. In this tasting, the 2017 comes across as a bit slender. Some of that may be attributable to the relatively high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (74%) in the blend. Two thousand seventeen is also the first vintage to include Petit Verdot. All those details aside, the 2017 is an attractive Brane-Cantenac built on persistence.

Score: 88 - 91 Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media.com

Deep crimson. Complex aroma that pulls together black olive as well as sweet spice and cassis leaf and fruit. Creamy texture, nicely balanced, lightish and elegant with a juicy finish.

Score: 16 - 17 Julia Harding MW, Jancisrobinson.com Maturity: 2022-2032

The 2017 Calon-Ségur was cropped at 43.5hl/ha and underwent a 20-day cuvaison after which it is matured entirely in new oak for 20 months. It contains 13.2° alcohol. At the moment the aromatics convey the 100% new oak but there is sufficient fruit underneath. There is a palpable sense of “coolness” imbuing the aromatics and like other Saint-Estèphe barrel samples, it conveys a subtle estuary-like tincture. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannin, beautifully integrated new oak that lends this a silky texture. Perhaps this is the smoothest of all the 2017s I encountered within this appellation, a classy and sophisticated Calon-Ségur in the making and heightened by the thrilling tension towards the finish and the latent energy that lingers in the mouth. Excellent.

Score: 92 - 94 Neal Martin, Vinous Media.com Maturity: 2024-2045

The 2017 Calon-Ségur is tentatively blended of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it opens with pronounced black currants, crushed blackberries and fresh black plums with hints of cigar box, sandalwood and cinnamon stick plus a waft of mossy bark. The palate is medium-bodied, elegant, energetic and fresh with layers of black fruit, perfumed incense and fragrant earth notions, lingering nicely with exotic spices coming through on the finish.

Score: 92 - 94 Lisa Perotti-Brown MW, robertparker.com

This is very pure and sleek in feel, with an iron note running from start to finish while cassis, cherry and damson plum fruit plays out. The long, focused finish has light bay and savory hints while letting the minerality sing.

Score: 91 - 94 James Molesworth, Wine Spectator

Inky core with black-cherry rim. Ripe, dark and with a fine mineral cast to the cassis fruit, which is ripe but not sweet. Paper-fine tannins in many layers. Great ageing potential but also accessible. Deceptively accessible, suggesting lack of ageing ability, but I don't think that is the case. Cool, fresh, serious, fine cassis fruit. The finesse comes from the lack of sweetness but there's no lack of fruit. Dry, firm and very St-Estèphe, with tannin structure. But the structure is filled molecule by molecule with the fruit. It's so finely balanced. There's more firmness than in Cos but there's still excellent harmony. Opens to a hint of violets. Super-moreish and juicy even with the structure of the terroir. (17.5+ Points)

Score: 17 - 18 Julia Harding MW, Jancisrobinson.com Maturity: 2025-2040

The 2017 Canon was picked 4 to 21 September and 22 to 27 September for the Merlot and Cabernet Franc at 42hl/ha and matured in 56% new oak. There is 14.0° alcohol this year and the pH comes in at 3.66. This takes a little time to open, eventually revealing blackberry, briary, crushed stone and light iris scents. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins and good backbone. Strangely, it reminds me a little of modern-day Figeac, that Cabernet component smaller here but very expressive with touches of graphite and flint towards the linear but beguilingly fresh finish. I like the manner in which the limestone shines through the wine here, something noticeable in recent vintages. Whilst not the sensational 2015 or 2016, it is a damn fine Saint-Émilion that will settle at the top of my banded score.

Score: 92 - 94 Neal Martin, Vinous Media.com Maturity: 2022-2045

The deep purple-black colored 2017 Canon offers-up intense notes of crushed blackberries, black cherries and warm cassis with touches of fertile loam, yeast extract, beef drippings and iron ore plus a waft of garrigue. Medium to full-bodied with great freshness and firm, rounded tannins, it's very earthy in the mouth, finishing long and mineral-laced. A very serious wine, it is also fun, bright and vivacious and should age impressively.

Score: 94 - 96 Lisa Perotti-Brown MW, robertparker.com

A very pretty, slightly high-pitched version, featuring sleek cherry, cassis and damson plum fruit racing through, picking up light savory and mineral notes. The minerality blooms through the finish, with a floral gilding adding a sparkly effect on the long, unencumbered finish.

Score: 93 - 96 James Molesworth, Wine Spectator

Deep crimson. Sweet dark plums and a touch of vanilla. Lovely pure black fruit that sings, if quietly for now. Silky and elegant. Refined and just slides over the palate to a very long finish. Subtle beauty.

Score: 17 Julia Harding MW, Jancisrobinson.com Maturity: 2022-2032

The 2017 Canon-la-Gaffelière was picked 18 September to 10 October at 16hl/ha, matured in 55% new oak. It has a fairly straightforward bouquet with high-toned black cherry and cassis fruit, the second-generation fruit lending freshness, though it does not have the complexity or depth of a great Canon-la-Gaffelière and there are a number of those in recent years. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, fleshy in the mouth and well balanced with notes of raspberry preserve, blackberry and light tea-leaves; smoky notes emerging towards the finish. This was sampled several times during my tastings, the final two showings undoubtedly superior. Yet despite the Herculean efforts I still feel that the second-generation fruit discombobulates what could have been a better wine. It should still offer a decade’s worth of drinking pleasure and in any case, it will be fascinating to see how it evolves.

Score: 87 - 89 Neal Martin, Vinous Media.com Maturity: 2021-2034

Composed of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2017 Canon la Gaffeliere contains a large part of second-generation fruit because 65% of the crop was affected by frost. Deep garnet-purple in color, it has pronounced crème de cassis, blueberry pie, red currants and red plums notes with touches of Chinese five spice, fragrant earth, tapenade and tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied with nice firm tannins giving a sturdy frame along with plenty of freshness supporting great mid-palate density, finishing long and earthy. (91-93+)

Score: 91 - 93 Lisa Perotti-Brown MW, robertparker.com

A blend of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in 55% new French oak, the 2017 Canon-la-Gaffelière offers a Burgundian mineral-laced bouquet of crushed flowers, forest floor, earth and both black and blue fruits. It has sensational purity, moderate depth, building tannin, and a great finish. It’s certainly one of the fresher, more vibrant wines in the vintage, and the tannins will need to be watched, but its purity and elegance are something. I suspect the cellar will be your friend and it should be long-lived. Tasted twice. (92-94+ Points)

Score: 92 - 94 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com

The 2017 Canon La Gaffelière is superb. Compelling in its aromatics and overall balance, the 2017 has so much to offer. All the elements simply fall into place. As is the case with all of Stephan von Neipperg's wines, the 2017 is wonderfully fresh and nuanced, with less muscle than in the past and noticeably more finesse. Bright floral and mocha notes add lift to the dark red stone fruits. What a gorgeous wine this is. Tasted two times.

Score: 92 - 95 Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media.com