First day today of the Union des Grands Crus Tastings (UGC). We kicked off bright and early at Smith-Haut-Lafitte for the Pessac-Leognan tasting. An interesting start with the usual suspects performing well and true to type. In general terms the reds were more consistent than the whites with Domaine de Chevalier being a star performer. The two perennial Corney & Barrow favourites, Carmes Haut-Brion and Picque-Caillou have both made brilliant wines full of pure plum fruit and beautifully balanced.

The whites were on the whole good although some seem to lack a little of the acidity one would expect at this stage. Picque-Caillou again was a star despite having changed its blend this year to around 80% Sauvignon Blanc. Domaine de Chevalier, Pape-Clement and Smith Haut-Lafitte have produced delicious wines although the Pape was incredibly opulent and expensively made which will no doubt be reflected in the price.

After tasting here it was a dash to St-Julien in the pouring rain for tasting and lunch with Anthony Barton. There is plenty of water around in Bordeaux at the moment so there should be no worries about hydric stress later in the year. As one has come to expect, the two Barton wines are exceptional this year. Langoa has come on in leaps and bounds of late and the gap between the two is as close as it has ever been. Leoville a little more masculine and, as always, sturdily built at this young age. Langoa bursting with ripe, succulent fruit and beautiful intensity.

We have been spoiled for lunches this week and this one will take a lot of beating. Anthony and his Eva are wonderful hosts and we were treated to a delicious meal. We kicked off with Gosset Grande Reserve which Anthony buys and then keeps for 3 or 4 years to give it some bottle age. It was deep gold in colour, biscuity, rich and utterly delicious. On going through to lunch it quickly became clear we were going to have to sing for our supper as the reds were sitting anonymously in decanters. I am very pleased to say that Messrs Marus and Fraser increased the Corney & Barrow stock immeasurably by naming both wine and vintage first time – apparently a first. They were 1986 Langoa-Barton and 1982 Leoville-Barton. Both quite stunning, beautifully balanced and wonderfully elegant. We thanked Anthony and Eva for a real treat and tried with a little difficulty to refocus on the task as hand.

Batailley (above) was next up for the UGC tasting of St.Julien, Pauillac and St-Estephe. It has become clear this week that these three communes and in particular St-Julien are the star performers with a consistency not found in the other appellations. With only an hour to taste the lot we set to. Now we are all well tuned to the requirements we had the whole room licked in 40 minutes, giving us a rather more sedate drive to our next appointment at Grand Puy Lacoste. Here we met Xavier Borie and his daughter who has just returned from a couple of years selling wine in Vietnam to join her father. Grand Puy Lacoste is unusual for a Medoc property in that is sits on quite a distinct hill, a rarity in this generally flat part of the world. There are three wines in the stable her, Lacoste Borie, Haut-Batailley and Grand Puy Lacoste. All three showed superbly with different styles. The latter two had such wonderful charm and grace that, had they been blind I would have almost certainly had them in Margaux. We tried to squeeze Xavier a little on the likely timings of the campaign but like a good politician he would not be drawn.

Onwards then to our last slot of the day at Pichon Baron. Once again there was a flight of AXA owned properties to taste here from Pibran in the Haut-Medoc through Tourelles de Longueville, Baron itself, Petit-Village in Pomerol and finally Suduiraut. Opinions were a little divided here with some preferring Pibran to Tourelles but we were unanimous on the Baron itself; a terrific effort, packed with dark fruit, big structure and a long, balanced finish. Will this be better than its sister property Pichon Lalande. At this early stage I think it has it by a nose. Petit-Village was a little underwhelming on this showing but we will try it tomorrow at the UGC so I will reserve judgment until then. Finally Suduiraut, the dry wine ‘S’ de Suduiraut was rich, ripe and bursting with flavour but lacked a little of the required acidity to back it up. The stickie was incredibly sweet having a whopping 160 grams of residual sugar. Not a huge amount of botrytis and again judgment reserved until a more detailed tasting later.

We were now up against it to get Mr Marus back to Bordeaux in time for his grand Academie des Vins Dinner in Bordeaux. Helen, our terrific driver, did us proud with some canny shortcuts and we made it back to the hotel in time for a well earned beer for the team and for Mr Marus to get into his penguin suit and get to dinner.

Another day down and suddenly only a day and a half to go. More tomorrow….