Château St Pierre, 4ème Cru Classé, St Julien,

This is beautiful, you feel the warm summer temperatures of 2009 in that the fruits are clearly ripe, with touches of fig alongside raspberry puree and sweet black cherry, but it is balanced out by deft strokes of mint and eucalyptus, freshly cut herbs, black pepper, tingle of minerality and tight tannins that are not quite renoucing their duty yet. Good stuff, a great moment to start drinking this wine. 55% new oak.

Deep garnet in color, the 2009 Saint-Pierre storms out of the glass with powerful notes of creme de cassis, plum pudding, and Indian spices plus nuances of potpourri and unsmoked cigars. The medium-bodied palate is generous and plush, with bags of spicy black fruit preserves and a long fragrant finish.

The 2009 Saint-Pierre knocks the ball out of the park. It is a stunning Saint-Julien that has blossomed in recent years. I must confess that none of the previous bottles intimated the potential shown here. It is more compact, tighter on the nose than its peers, opening seductively with gorgeous graphite and bayleaf infused black fruit, real mineralité and great tension. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, juicy to the point where it belies the backbone, very nicely poised with a precise and long graphite finish. Ducru-Beacaillou and Léoville Las-Cases - here is your challenger to the crown. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.