THE VERDICT

Overall it was something of an underwhelming tasting, with our judges disappointed at the low proportion of wines scoring at Recommended level or above. ‘My expectations as soon as I hear the words “branded Bordeaux” are not that high, to be honest,’ said Jane Anson, who felt quality ‘should be higher’ based on the standard that is achievable in the region. ‘We had plenty of wines from great vintages here and, knowing what producers are capable of, quite often during the tasting I thought,“I wish this was better”.’ Andy Howard MW agreed: ‘There’s definitely room for brands to up their game.’

Of the 67 wines tasted, about two-thirds achieved Recommended or above, the judges highlighting good ‘typicity