Le Crock 2021 (750ML)

93 DE / 90-92 VM / 91 JA / 90-91 JS / 89-91 WA

Almost a ginger tone to the nose, it's so fresh: Chinese spices, raspberry and violets. Super-tannic and youthful, high toned and a little bit austere, coating the mouth with fine but grippy texture. The fruit is rich and there is a nice seductive side to it, perfumed and so deep, it really settles on the mid-palate, giving you so much fragrance and flavour. Juicy and alive, refreshing but with quite a serious core. Great menthol ending. A lovely St-Estèphe, clearly still a baby that will need to grow over ageing but lovely initial elements and balanced all the way through to a long finish. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter

The 2021 Le Crock is a very pretty, vibrant Saint-Estèphe. Crushed red berry fruit, wild flowers, mint, spice and blood orange are all laced together. Bright acids and lifted floral notes perk up the finish. In 2021, Le Crock is a touch lithe, but that is not at all a critique. This mid-weight Saint-Estèphe is a real charmer. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

Plenty of tannic width and power on display, good St Estèphe character, if harking back a little to the years when this appellation was full of body and fruit but with rusticity. Good quality though, with blueberry and blackberry fruits, full of flavour. Not frost here but still poor fruit set that meant overall yield of 31hl/h. Harvest September 27 to October 8. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

A fine and nicely polished young red that delivers currant and blackberry character with some floral undertones. Linear and fine. Rather delicate. 58% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot, 10% cabernet franc and 7% petit verdot. -James Suckling

The 2021 Le Crock offers up aromas of sweet berries, plums and cherries mingled with hints of rose petal, tobacco leaf and pencil shavings. Medium-bodied, ample and charming, it's a supple, open wine with a pretty core of fruit and melting tannins, concluding with a penetrating finish. Unusually, Cabernet Sauvignon dominates the blend at fully 58%, with Merlot down to a mere 25%. It's a solid effort from the Cuvelier family, proprietors of Léoville-Poyferré. Tasted three times. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate