2015 Château Batailley

The 2015 Batailley has a slightly gamey bouquet that opens nicely in the glass, with red berry fruits, brown spices and light minty aromas that entice you in. The palate is medium-bodied with plush tannins, but there is real structure behind it, insistent grip with an off-dry, dark chocolate-tinged finish. Give this another couple of years. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting at Farr Vintners.

77% Cabernet-Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot. From vines with an average age of 35 years. 18 months’ barrel-ageing, bottled 15 June 2017 under natural cork. SO 2 total 97 mg/l, SO 2 free 24 mg/l. Vegan. Bottle weight 600g. Very deep blackish ruby. Creamy and lustrous-tasting with concentration and polished tannins. A luxurious bottle but is it worth four of the Ch Lacour Jacquet 2018? It’s already drinking well and although it has the tannic charge of a typical 2015, the tannins are (just) suppressed by the fruit. (JR)

The 2015 Batailley put in a querulous showing at the blind Southwold tasting, so I asked for another bottle at the property. It has a well-defined bouquet, although I am still seeking more cohesion and terroir expression. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin, fine acidity and plenty of cedar-infused black fruit. There remains some new oak to be subsumed on the finish. A likeable Batailley, but I must admit I expected more given its performance from barrel.