2025 Ch d'Armailhac Pauillac

96 POINTS: Aromatic intensity, wild flowers, some chocolate and blackcurrant notes. Red cherries. Grippy and filling but soft, chalky and saline, a gorgeous weight on the palate with ripe bramble berries, cool blue fruit and lots of cola, liquorice and wet stones. Very transparent and hands off. A touch straight but lovely muscular edge without the heft. Juicy, fun, clean, pure. Balanced. Savoury. Great job controlling the extraction – tannins are there but this is sapid too. A little more serious and structured and perhaps overall elegant than Clerc. A 2% dash of Petit Verdot completes the blend.