2017 White Bordeaux

This is one of the crisper whites we tasted this vintage, with its layers of tropical and quince fruit kept nicely in check by a tight, fresh, green apple and grapefruit core, and a touch of minerality. A blend of 80 percent Sauvignon Blanc and 20 percent Sémillon, this Cos is both moreish and elegant, and has the complexity and structure to allow you to enjoy it over the next decade, possibly longer. 

This white from the famed Lynch Bages stable often stands out as one of the whites of the vintage. Beautifully crisp and clean on the nose, this is full of white stone fruit with a citrus verbena note. The palate is fresh and vibrant packed full of citrus, with lemon pith, wet stone and a lovely phenolic feeling that gives the palate great depth and yet a vivacity with its precise tannins. Delicious. Keep for three – five years in bottle and enjoy.

A blend of 75 percent Sauvignon Blanc and 25 percent Sémillon, this has a tightly wound nose with notes of citrus, white stone-fruit, lemon pith and a hint of anise. Very compact and alluring with a lovely mouth-feel, this coats the mid-palate with peach and spice. Great acidity and really persistent, this is very good, precise and alive with great nervous tension overlying tightly packed fruit. Bravo.

There is an attractive restraint about Ch. Pape Clément's white this year with pleasing notes of fresh lemon and citrus, white stone-fruit and peach. This is a blend of 55 percent Sauvignon Blanc and 45 percent Sémillon with 20 percent fermented in concrete eggs. The palate is fresh, clean and precise with oily acidity and a long, mineral finish. 

This has a delicate and fragrant nose, with a hint of reduction initially, opening up to reveal citrus and white stone fruits along with gun flint. The palate is fresh, clean – as with most 2017s – and linear but expressive with crisp, stone fruit dominating. A lovely creamy mouthfeel is balanced by a bright mineral finish. Totally drinkable. 

The impressive ripeness and intensity combined with elegance and finesse are what make this wonderful white. Honeysuckle, apricots, glazed grapefruit, spices and nutmeg. Medium to full body and fleshy fruit that’s lifted by the delicious acidity to the long finish.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com