The lamentably small quantities that Domaine Javillier were able to produce in 2021 meant that they declined requests to taste at the domaine in the autumn. Based on the long-recognised consistency of quality here though and the general consensus that so many whites were successful, particularly where losses were greatest almost because of that very fact, we have no hesitation in offering these wines in 2021.
Domaine Patrick Javillier, Bourgogne-Cote d’Or, Cuvée des Forgets 2021 £120 per 6 bottle case in bond
Domaine Patrick Javillier, Bourgogne-Cote d’Or, Cuvée Oligocene 2021
£150 per 6 bottle case in bond
Domaine Patrick Javillier, Meursault, Les Tillets 2021 £345 per 6 bottle case in bond
BORDEAUX 2025 EN PRIMEUR - Chateau Les Carmes Haut Brion
BORDEAUX 2025 EN PRIMEURChâteau Les Carmes Haut Brion Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion occupies a singular place within Bordeaux, and in recent vintages, Guillaume Pouthier has further clarified that identity.Yohan Castaing, robertparker.com, April 2026 2025 Château Les Carmes Haut Brion£435 per 6 bottle case in bond
Another wine that I feel obliged to recommend from this year’s En Primeur is 2025 Château Les Carmes Haut Brion. Don’t worry, there won’t be many more.
Since the estate’s revival, the quality has been incredibly consistent, vintage in, vintage out. Some back vintages have lost value, but Carmes is not an expensive wine, and I look at the market price of vintages like 2021, and I can’t help perceiving value. That vintage offered value before the price softened and offers the drinker even more today.
The 2025 shows how the team’s approach has refined over the last decade, and at £435/6 in bond, I think it stacks up next to the run of back vintages. Carmes is an outlier. It is predominantly Cabernet Franc. They ferment a high proportion as whole bunch. They extend skin contact and they extend the ageing in barrel, foudre and amphora so that when the wine is bottled it does not need much patience to be drinking in its prime. It is a fascinating wine that has drawn other estates towards an approach that aims to produce wines that drink earlier yet remain complex and unmistakably Bordeaux. A highly individual wine.
The 2025 ranks with the finest achievements to date from this tiny vineyard.
2025 Château Les Carmes Haut Brion£435 per 6 bottle case in bond
(95-97) points, Neal Martin, vinous.com, May 2026The 2025 Les Carmes Haut-Brion comes from clay-limestone soils and was picked from September 7 to 19, with a high level of Cabernet Franc (54%) and lower Merlot (17%). This vintage has 65% whole cluster, similar to 2022, raised in 70% new oak barrels, 19% in 18hl foudres and 11% amphoras. This takes time to open on the nose: blacker, darker fruit than the Le C, black plum and touches of iris flower. Very pure, very well defined. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chalky tannins on the entry, crunchy in the mouth, black fruit interlaced with Earl Grey, subtle ash-like notes. Linear towards the finish but very sustained in the mouth, there is plenty of energy in this Les Carmes-Haut-Brion and it should age with style and grace. More sapidity on the finish than the Dead Sea. Drink 2032-2060
(95-98) points, Yohan Castaing, robertparker.com, April 2026The 2025 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a blend of 54% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot, one of the highest proportions of Cabernet Franc at the estate and comparable to 2016. It was vinified with 65% whole clusters and matured in 70% new oak. It reveals a complex, harmonious bouquet of pomegranate, iris and peony, intertwined with cassis, mulberries and dark berries. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and structured, it’s deep and layered, its concentrated core of fruit framed by velvety structuring tannins, concluding with a long, mineral-inflected finish. Combining tension with an ethereal profile, it delivers remarkable clarity, freshness and elegance. While slightly more overtly structured at this stage than the prodigious 2022, it remains impeccably balanced.
BORDEAUX 2025 EN PRIMEURChâteau Brane-Cantenac Another feather in the cap for Lurton and, moreover, this is often one of the best values on release.Neal Martin, vinous.com, May 2026 2025 Château Brane-Cantenac£237 per 6 bottle case in bond
Well, I have pushed my calculator off the far side of my desk, and I am only focusing on quality here.
I thought that Brane-Cantenac 2025 was simply one of those magical wines... Such a classy, effortless Margaux with a glorious sense of symmetry. To my mind, something of a must have and possibly the most startling barrel sample I have ever tasted from Henri Lurton's superb estate.
I am not worried whether the price has gone up, or down, or round the corner for that matter - not that Brane-Cantenac has ever pushed its release price too far. This is an utterly brilliant wine in the making - it is as simple as that.
2025 Château Brane-Cantenac£237 per 6 bottle case in bond
95-97 points, Neal Martin, vinous.com, May 2026The 2025 Brane-Cantenac was picked from September 2 to 29, finishing with that 1% of late-ripening Carménère, cropped at 32.2 hl/ha. It has impressive purity on the nose, an aspect of the Grand Vin that Henri Lurton and his team have improved immensely over the last decade. Black cherries, bilberry, violet and crushed stone unfold in the glass, classical in style, which is Brane-Cantenac's signature. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, finely sculpted tannins allied with disarming sapidity and brightness. Not powerful like the 2022, yet pixelated with a mineral, tensile, complex finish. Another feather in the cap for Lurton and, moreover, this is often one of the best values on release. Drink 2032-2060
97 points, Jane Anson, janeanson.com, April 2026This is luscious and full of wonderfully bright fruits, great concentration, cushion of air underneath, high Cabernet and it comes through in the floral aromatics, clearly a plentiful tannic structure but luscious and layered damson and black cherry. Yes yes yes. Drink 2036-2055
BORDEAUX 2025 EN PRIMEUR - Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste
BORDEAUX 2025 EN PRIMEURChâteau Grand Puy Lacoste This is a complete Pauillac that is going to give immense pleasure.Neal Martin, vinous.com, May 2026 2025 Château Grand Puy Lacoste£228 per 6 bottle case in bond
When I tasted 2025 Château Grand Puy Lacoste in Bordeaux at the end of April, I really liked it... I have no doubt it will mature into a truly beautiful glass of Pauillac as it reveals terrific purity and balance. I have seldom tasted a young vintage of GPL that has made such an impression on me – their team have really nailed it this vintage. This is a very classy Pauillac for the money.
I’ll leave you to wrestle with the big questions such as whether you need to be buying it now, and I’ll continue to wrestle with whether I need to be offering it!
For those craving a bit of data, the 2025 is released at the same euro cost as the 2024. The 2024 was released at £213/6 in the UK. The 2022 has a market price of £265/6, the 2019 is £205/6 and the 2016 is £310/6.
Blocking out the noise, it looks like a very fair price for a very fine vintage to me.2025 Château Grand Puy Lacoste£228 per 6 bottle case in bond
(95-97) points, Yohan Castaing, robertparker.com, April 2026The 2025 Grand-Puy-Lacoste reveals a classic, refined bouquet of cassis, dark berries, cedar and lead pencil, with discreet floral nuances. Medium- to full-bodied, structured and precise, it’s built around a well-defined core of fruit framed by finely grained, youthful, filigreed tannins with a tensile profile. Less demonstrative than some of its peers in Pauillac, it privileges balance and typicity over sheer power, concluding with a long, elegant and mineral finish. Produced from a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot, this is the first vintage vinified in the estate’s new gravity-fed cellar, enabling more precise parcel selection—an evolution that appears to reinforce the wine’s precision and coherence.
(94-96) points, Neal Martin, vinous.com, May 2026The 2025 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is the first to be made in the new gravity-fed winery. It was picked between September 4 and 18 at 30 hl/ha, much lower than normal, with a high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (76%). Matured in 65% new oak, it has a perfumed bouquet with blackberry and raspberry fruit, touches of graphite emerging with aeration, beautifully defined. The palate is medium-bodied with edgy tannins. Definitely one of the most refined GPLs that I have tasted at this stage, very harmonious, complex and engaging. Superb persistence on the finish, this is a complete Pauillac that is going to give immense pleasure. Drink 2032-2060Let us know if you would like a case or two.Simonsimon.larkin@atlasfinewines.com
