2018 La Fleur Penin St Emilion Grand Cru

On release, the highly fancied, radiant vintage of 2018 delivered in spades. With intervening years in the bottle, this flagship from La Fleur Penin’s small right bank property only offers more comfort, with glossy red berry, deep cassis and plum fruit, notes of bitter chocolate and fine tannins.

Fusing mostly merlot with a splash of structural cabernet franc, this is a generous classic from Bordeaux’s beating heartland.