Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve: One of the most resounding successes of this vintage from an appellation that has itself performed particularly well. Admirably complex fruit with aromas of spice, plums, cedar, liquorice and red berries. Majestically balanced body. Uncommonly perfect, textbook tannins. Sumptuous length. A wine that is the noblest expression of a great terroir: Jean Delmas, now retired from Haut-Brion, has had a hand in this. 18.5

Margaret Rand: finely grained tannins, good concentration and a long, fine finish. Lovely balance, silky and seductive. Should be delicious. 17.5

Michael Schuster: Ripe cedar, blackcurrant and mineral nose; rich, elegantly balanced medium-weight with a fresh acidity and a fine, dry tannin. Moderately dense, ripe, savoury fruit, with a clear minerality, nice complexity and good length. Very good this year – all its restrained Graves character intact, but with a little more ‘fat’. Will need 8–10 years. 16.5