Château Citran 2016

A super-reliable, good quality name in the Haut-Médoc category. Ground coffee flavours run right through the extremely elegant black fruits, liquorice and charcoal, with a lovely seam of freshness. The tannins are just a touch too solid, but it yet again shows the brilliant quality in this vintage at different levels. The blend is 50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc.

A firm and silky wine with integrated tannins and cool, fresh fruit. Medium body. Tangy and tense finish. A blend of 49 percent merlot, 43 percent cabernet sauvignon and 8 percent cabernet franc. Drink in 2022.

Deep crimson. Sweetly spiced black fruit. Dry tannic finesse, paper-fine in lots of layers. Very fresh, almost too much so, but it is just in balance. (JH)

Lighter style of wine that is open, for early drinking, offering bright red plums, earth, herbs, and spice.

Deep dark ruby, opaque core, subtle brightening at the rim, delicate balsamic note, black fruit, a hint of herbal savouriness, tobacco note. Medium body, blackberry, integrated tannins, fresh acidity, persistent, good maturity, definite ageing potential.

The ruby/purple-hued 2016 Château Citran is an outstanding Haut-Médoc boasting loads of red and black fruits, notes of underbrush and graphite, medium to full body, and a balanced, elegant texture that’s very much in the style of the vintage. It’s a hidden gem and, I suspect, a great value.

Kunz barrel sample 17: herbs, light bouquet, red berries, hard wood. A sturdy, bourgeois palate with little, sandy tannin, light aromatics, angular structure, medium finish.

Herbal notes, light bouquet, red berries, hard oak. A sturdy, bourgeois palate with little, sandy tannin, light aromatics, angular structure, medium finish. 16/20 2023 - 2030

Delicately fruity and floral nose, round, fruity palate with a velvety texture and plenty of freshness. Well-made, very enjoyable to drink.

Garnet red with violet highlights. The bouquet of this Citran shows just how much this estate can produce wines of real quality. It is complex, nicely intense, and very inviting. The palate is equally convincing. Slightly suave, it has expansive tannins in step with the acid structure. The latter supports the whole wine well and ideally backs it up in concert with the tannins. A fine success at Citran!