Michael Schuster | Dumb yet dense to smell; very nicely balanced, fresh, elegant, medium- to full-bodied wine, fine in tannin texture (much finer than in the recent past); freshly ripe, long, pure, transparent, and much more classic premier grand cru classé St-Emilion in proportions and style than lately. This reflects the vision of the new, younger generation more and more in charge, a new consultant, Thomas Duclos, and a dramatically different, less intrusive winemaking approach. Now there is less emphasis on mass and extract, two thirds new wood rather than the previous 85–100 percent, plus one third of the wine aged in a mixture of amphorae and large wood. This has made for a sea change in style, with a huge improvement in texture, and a much more beautiful, natural expression of the terroir. Or at least so it seems from my palate’s point of view. 2027–40+. | 91–93