Château Boyd-Cantenac 2017

Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2017 Boyd-Cantenac gives pronounced cassis, stewed plums and cedar with earthy undertones and an herbal waft. It has a chewy frame, and the oak stands out on the palate, finishing with a good core of mid-palate flesh.

Smoke, grilled cedar and vine shoots, cigar box and liquorice. Boyd Cantenac is never shy of oak, and although there is also some lovely cassis fruit character and a menthol-edged finish, it still needs a good five years to fully soften. Good quality, but the oak remains intrusive right now.

A juicy, fruity Margaux for the vintage with a medium-bodied palate, round and juicy tannins, bright fruit and a flavorful finish. Needs a year or three to come around still. Try after 2022.

Tasted blind. Deep ruby colour. The nose smells of charred wood and cured meat – it is hard to see the fruit past this. The palate follows, full of smoke, with dusty tannins bringing a puckering mouthfeel. This is very dry at present and it is hard to see the fruit revealing itself. (TP)

The 2017 Boyd-Cantenac is noticeably deep in colour. It has a very intense bouquet with baked black cherries mixed with iodine and light violet aromas, becoming more floral with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a fine bead of acidity, but clearly much more backward than its peers with a strong Pauillac-inspired, graphite finish. A really interesting Margaux that I am fascinated to see evolve.

One of the more uncommon Classified Growths from Margaux, the wine is medium-bodied and rather classic in style. The fruit is bright, and there is a dusty quality to the red-berry finish.

Kunz barrel sample 18: slim, upfront bouquet, red cherries, wood, rubber. Angular, light palate with sandy tannins, little fruit, bony structure, restrained aromatics, drying finish.

Lean, upfront bouquet of red cherries, wood, rubber. Angular, light palate with sandy tannins, little fruit, bony structure, limited aromatics, drying finish. 15/20 2023 - 2030

The 2017 Boyd-Cantenac is medium to deep garnet in color. Notes of baked black plums, redcurrants, and kirsch jump from the glass, followed by hints of dried Mediterranean herbs and pencil shavings. Medium-bodied, the palate is firm and chewy with just enough black and red berry flavors and a slightly rustic finish.

Nobly aromatic, with cedar notes, generous in texture and a bouncing, lingering finish; complex and racy. The oak is still a touch pronounced. Exemplary and up to the mark.

Here again, the oakiness smothers an elegant, very well-balanced substance. It’s a pity, especially since the silkiness and the depth of the fruit are there.

Dark, intense, and beautiful color. Moderately aromatic and subtle nose with ripe fruit. Juicy on the attack, then supple, the wine unfolds along the palate toward a sappy, perfumed finish with good structure. Normal length.