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Beychevelle is often described as the Versailles of Bordeaux, due to its spectacular château and gardens. Beychevelles origins go back to the mid-1400s and the estate was renovated and rebuilt in the second half of the 18th Century. It is now owned (since 2011) by the Japanese Suntory company in partnership with Pierre Castel, head of Castel Freres. The 75ha of St-Julien vineyards are planted on deep, gravelly soils 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot and increasingly farmed organically. A striking new glass-walled winery was completed in 2016. Chateau Beychevelle, classified Quatrième Cru (Fourth Growth), is a traditionally-styled Bordeaux wine full of cassis, earth, spice and tobacco notes that ages well.

Chateau Branaire-Ducru is a fourth growth (4ème Cru Classé) St-Julien estate, in the southern area of the appellation. The Grand Vin has a high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon between 80-85% in most years; one of the highest in the Médoc. The grapes are hand-harvested and undergo a three week post fermentation maceration to build tannin structure before the wine is matured in 60-65% new French oak barriques for 16-20 months. Branaire-Ducru is renowned for producing classic claret wines that are elegant, ripe and well balanced.

Dating back over 800 years in the Bordeaux region, Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte is owned today by Daniel and Florence Cathiard. The estate also features a world class spa, which specialises in Vinotherapie - using grape extracts in many of their treatments. Up until the year 2000, the estate was not known for producing top quality wines, however in the capable hands of the Cathiard family and after over a decade of hard work and reinvention, the wines truly began to come into their own. It has been, in the words of Andrew Caillard, an astonishing ascendancy in the past 15 years, and given the sterling reviews the 2016 vintage has received, its trajectory seems set to continue its meteoric rise.

One of the original Second Growths of the Bordeaux Classification of 1855, Rauzan-Ségla's 51 hectares of mineral rich soils begin on the banks of the Gironde, on the left bank of Bordeaux. A complex mix of gravel, clay and limestone subsoil imparts a richness and complexity to the Cabernet (62%), Merlot (36%), Cabernet Franc (1%) and Petit Verdot (1%) grapes used to produce this powerfully intense and elegant wine. The estate was last sold in 1994 to the Wertheimer family of Chanel, who employed former Château Latour winemakers, David Orr and John Kolasa. Nicolas Audebert, the former winemaker at Cheval des Andes, the LVMH property in Mendoza Argentina, was hired to succeed John Kolasa following his retirement in 2014.

Chateau Lascombes is a second grand cru classé of Margaux, renowned for producing perfumed elegant wines which gain greater depth and complexity with cellaring. The 118 ha vineyard of the Chateau is one of the largest and most fragmented in the area with plots spread across the Margaux appellation. Plantings comprise 50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot anchored predominantly on gravel, clay and sand soils. The wine is vinified in a combination of wood and stainless steel vats and then aged in 80% new French oak barriques for 18 months. Serious investment both in the vineyard and winery has led to a notable renaissance in quality in recent years.

Chateau Batailley is a highly regarded 5th growth classified estate, located in the appellation of Pauillac on the left bank of Bordeaux. Owned by the Castéja family of négociants Borie-Manoux, it is one of the oldest estates in the Médoc. A Cabernet Sauvignon dominant blend with smaller components of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it is a solid, classically structured mid-weight Pauillac displaying fresh notes of cassis and a backbone of fine-grained tannins.

While the estate known as Chateau Haut-Bailly dates back to 1461, its wine production began in 1530, falling into the hands of the de Leuvarde and Le Bailly families in 1630. It was purchased in 1998 by Robert G Wilmers, a Harvard-educated banker, and his French wife Elisabeth and under their care, the estate has begun producing some of the best wines in its history. The cellars and production procedures were renovated and modernised and this year, the Chateau itself was awarded government recognition of its cultural and vinious heritage. From some of the oldest vines in the region, the 2016 has been lauded as one of the Chateaus best, with Neal Martin hailing it as perhaps the best that I have tasted in almost 20 years of tasting at this estate.