How Pessac-Léognan 2016 wines taste in the bottle

Jane Anson finishes her Bordeaux 2016 in-bottle tastings, with the remaining Pessac-Léognan wines, plus some Pomerol and St-Emilion...

Pessac-Léognan 2016 wines in the bottle

Bordeaux 2016 has already established itself as a strong vintage, and possibly the best since 2010 in some areas of the Left Bank in particular.

Decanter’s contributing editor and lead Bordeaux taster, Jane Anson, tasted the newly bottled Médoc 2016s in the autumn of 2018, and now she has added Pessac-Léognan whites and reds to her in-bottle reviews of the 2016 vintage.

Although some wines are still to be tasted, many of those sampled so far have developed well since the En primeur tastings in April 2017.

See all re-tasted Pessac-Léognan 2016 wines

 See all Bordeaux 2016 tasting notes and scores

First growth Haut-Brion got the full 100 points this time around, up from a rating of 98 points when tasted in the barrel 18 months previously.

Other red wines from renowned estates lived up to their En primeur promise too: samples from several châteaux, including La Mission Haut-Brion, Malartic-Lagravière and Smith Haut Lafitte, matched their in-barrel ratings.

Anson describes La Mission Haut-Brion 2016 as a ‘wonderful wine…gorgeously balanced between richness and elegance’.

Alongside Pessac, Anson also tasted 2016 wines from some Right Bank estates, including Pomerol’s Château Lafleur, which scored a perfect 100 points, and Cheval Blanc in St-Emilion, which scored 98 in the bottle.

On the Right Bank, Anson has previously highlighted Pomerol for particular praise in 2016, saying that, ‘For me, Pomerol seems to have improved the most over ageing. Pauillac and St-Julien were always clearly brilliant, but Pomerol has absolutely come into itself over the last two years’.

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Bordeaux 2016 in bottle: The left bank

Bordeaux 2016 in bottle: The right bank