Château Croix du Trale, Haut-Médoc, Cru Bourgeois, Bordeaux, France 2023

With grip and ripe fruit, this wine comes across as a rather straight-up Médoc, with the cassis of the Cabernets dominating the softer Merlot expressions, albeit with some raw tannin that I suspect barrel ageing will tame. Not a bad wine, to enjoy with your steak over a summer barbecue.

Fleshy and round in the mouth with quite a dark fruit and toasted edge that is at the fore right now. Lovely tannins but there’s some residual oak that needs to integrate more on the finish. Cooling acidity and nice freshness throughout. Quite a powerful wine for 2023.