Château Haut-Maillet 2021

Château Haut-Maillet is a Merlot-led Pomerol with Cabernet Franc, on Bordeaux's Right Bank. The fruit is picked by hand, plot by plot, then sorted on a selection table so only the best bunches go forward. Pomerol's plateau is built on clay over an iron-rich subsoil, and that cool, water-retentive clay is what allows Merlot to ripen to plush, generous fruit while holding its freshness, giving the wine its rounded texture and a faint mineral edge. Fermentation runs in conical, temperature-controlled tanks with daily pumping over and punching down to draw colour and tannin gently from the skins, and the wine then ages twenty-four months in French oak, of which 30 per cent is new. That long, measured élevage lets oxygen pass slowly through the barrel to soften the tannins and add spice and cedar without smothering the fruit. At 13 per cent this is a medium-bodied, classic claret. The nose shows ripe plum, cherry and red berries over cedar and a savoury, earthy note; the palate is supple and elegant, the tannins fine, the finish long. Serve at 16 to 17 degrees. Good with beef, lamb and roast poultry.