2021 Château Couhins-Lurton

The 2021 Couhins-Lurton has a decent nose, well-defined with a mixture of red and black fruit, black olive and light sea spray scents. It just needs a little more vigor. The palate is medium-bodied with a fleshy entry, quite sweet with more red fruit here. Candied orange peel and light citrus notes emerge toward the finish. Fine.

Enjoyable in bottle, well balanced, finessed with clarity of fruit majoring on blueberry and cassis, with leafy aromatic tomato leaf and salted cracker on the finish. Single point upscore.

Aromas of plums, raspberries and raw cocoa introduce the 2021 Couhins-Lurton, a medium to full-bodied, taut and impressively concentrated wine framed by lively acids and powdery tannins. Soils are clay-limestone at this address, delivering a naturally low pH, making this an estate easy to underestimate en primeur, but this shows promise.