Hosanna 2018

The 2018 Hosanna is composed of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, the nose needs a bit of swirling and coaxing before it soars from the glass with compelling blue and black fruit scents of blueberry pie, blackberry preserves and stewed plums, plus hints of spice cake, unsmoked cigars and violets with a touch of cloves. The full-bodied palate shimmers with opulence, laden with black fruit preserves layers, supported by seductively plush tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and oh-so-spicy. It is very tempting to drink now, but 3-5 years of patience will offer a little cerebral tertiary contribution to all that decadent fruit. It should easily cellar for 25 years thereafter. 2025 - 2050

The 2018 L’If, which sees 50% new oak and 50% one-year-old wood, has a disarmingly lovely bouquet that veers more toward red fruit than black, offering raspberry and wild strawberry, hoisin and light marmalade aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins and quite saline on the entry, with good tension from beginning to end. Harmonious and almost understated toward the finish, it leaves light white pepper and sage notes on the aftertaste. This is an excellent L’If that should give 12–15 years of drinking pleasure. Drink 2023-2035.

An intense, juicy red with lots of meat, berry, chocolate and walnut aromas and flavors. Pure fruit. It’s full-bodied and dense with lots of fine tannins and richness. So powerful and long. Super length. Very muscular, yet agile at the same time. Try after 2025.

70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc. Barrel sample.
Darkest crimson. Lovely open and inviting fragrance of Cabernet Franc: pencil shavings, wild fruits and so vibrant. Lots of fruit energy on the palate, too, attractively dry tannins with finesse and more marked freshness on the finish but also a very slight bitterness at the very end, although I think this will mesh better with a few years in bottle. (JH)
Drink 2025-2035

Deep in colour, with a ripe, black fruited nose that is warm and exotic. Rich, juicy and plush on the palate, this is creamy but still firm with mouthcoating ripe tannins. The exuberance of the fruit makes this very creamy, plump and powerful on the finish.

The inky purple/blue-colored 2018 Château Hosanna is 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, all from a tiny 11-acre vineyard of clay and gravelly soils in Pomerol. Close in quality to La Fleur Petrus and Trotanoy (also in the lineup from Christian Moueix), it has a magical bouquet of blue fruits, tobacco, scorched earth, graphite, and crushed stone that, despite coming from a deep, rich, primordial barrel sample, is still layered and complex. Full-bodied, deep, and seamless on the palate, with fine tannins, it's a profound Pomerol that's going to flirt with perfection on release.

This has a strong tobacco and loam aspect, with lots of black currant, fig and bitter cherry fruit. Shows heft and muscle throughout. Dense and built for the cellar.

(70 Merlot, 30 Cabernet Franc) This is a very concentrated Hosanna and the fruit is solely in the black spectrum with flashes of black olive and liquorice appearing, too. I like the bravado here, not least because the oak and tannins are in harmony with the fruit and this is quite some task because the fruit is certainly very opinionated! When this wine mellows and softens I think that I may have to add another half point, assuming that everything calms down a notch, too.