Billed as “profound” but “far from perfect”, the 2015 vintage boasts just six 100-point scorers in Neal Martin’s view.
Petrus, Vieux Chateau Certan and Chateau Canon from the Right Bank, Margaux and Haut Brion from the Left Bank and Yquem from Sauternes have all been awarded the highest initial rating, although Martin remarked in The Wine Advocate that while the vintage generally showed “flashes of brilliance”, some appellations had clearly had “victory snatched from their hands”.
“The general level of quality is high, however, this is not a vintage of averages. It is an undulating landscape of highs and yes, the occasional low,” he wrote.
Pomerol and Saint Emilion received particular praise from the critic, with the former producing a “clutch of potentially astonishing wines”.
He added that Saint Julien performed “admirably”, Pauillac failed to “grab headlines” and that while Saint-Estephe had “some smart wines in the making”, inclement weather late in the growing season meant these wines were likely “denied the heights of others”.
