So good, this is a vibrant mix of young and exuberant, luxurious, seriously creamy in texture, crushed stone, baked earth, smoked caramel, damson, sweet blackberry and damson fruits. This is pure pleasure, hard to resist.

Showing beautifully, with the polished, pure, elegant style of the vintage, the 2019 Château Gloria sports a deeper ruby/purple color as well as great aromatics of cassis and assorted blue fruits to go with smoked tobacco, cedar pencil, damp earth, and floral notes. I love its purity, and it's just a quintessential, medium to full-bodied, layered Saint-Julien that can be drunk today or cellared for a solid two decades. It should be a no-brainer purchase for the wine lovers out there.

A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, harvested from September 30th until October 4th, 34% Merlot, harvested from September 23rd until the 25th, 6% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. The yield was 40 hl/ha. A quite fantastic colour in the glass, nearly opaque, a black tulip intensity with a crimson rim. The nose is charged with blended Cabernet and Merlot energy at the start, with sweet blackcurrants and a touch of black cherry, opening out to reveal dark and savoury threads of smoked damson, black olive, hawthorn and summer hedgerow fruits, scented with mineral dust and a little sweet, toasty but subtly integrated oak. Polished but with a sinewy substance from the outset, this has a deliciously open and accessible structure and substance at the start, melding in the middle with threads of grippy tannin, a gently plush substance, good energy and the vintage’s vivacious acid freshness. Ripe, yet poised, athletic and with a long grip no less charged than the start of the palate, leading to a long and spiced finish, this is a fine result for Gloria which pairs the ripeness and energy of the vintage with fine left-bank structure. Super potential here.