Chateau Bouscaut Blanc 2006: This wine has a lovely, fresh style. It has a green fruit and leafy-herby character on the nose, with a little touch of lemon curd. A good palate follows, very fresh, with an appealing style. Firm rather than exuberant, but very bright and structured. It has a nice grip too. Perhaps not showing as well as it did when tasted earlier in the year, but very good all the same. 16.5+/20

Chateau Carbonnieux Blanc 2006: Beautifully expressive nose here, leafy and herby, but overtly rich too, with notes of pear, creamy white fruits and yellow capsicum. The palate is fresh and balanced, quite rich as the nose suggested, with a supple character and plenty of green-yellow fruit. The acidity is a little gentle, and it seems a touch diffuse in parallel with my previous tasting note. But it is much improved. 16.5+/20

Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 2006: A nose of vibrant white cream here, herby and aromatic, but it seems also very vinous, elegant, stylish, with a stony-mineral element. It is wonderfully expressive. The palate is rich and it has a charming presence in the mouth, with a clean and deep character, supported by good grip. It also has some good length. Truly excellent wine. 18.5+/20

Chateau de Fieuzal Blanc 2006: This wine has a more reserved, stony, mineral nose, touched today with the barest hint of sulphur which I suspect will be of no real significance after a little while in bottle. The palate has rock dust and minerals, and a rather fatter style than some of the preceding wines. Rather subdued acidity too, accompanied by notes of watery green fruit, unusually with a kiwi-like character. Good. 16.5+/20

Chateau de France Blanc 2006: A slightly high-toned mineral and rock-dust nose here, with a rich, fruity, lemony vein. The palate is full, fresh, rich and curdy, it has fatness but also a decent grip beneath. There is a firm backbone of acidity with it too. This has a good, firm style and is an admirable effort. 16.5+/20

Chateau Larrivet-Haut-Brion Blanc 2006: This particular wine has a rather light and herby nose at first, but there is a welcome rich seam of fruit too. In fact with a little time it shows a rather full and flashy style and this is true on the palate where there is a firm grip and lots of vigour. Herbs, lemongrass and stone fruits provide some appealing complexity of flavour. This is an impressive wine. 17+/20

Chateau Latour-Martillac Blanc 2006: This has an immediately appealing nose, with restrained capsicum notes and slightly oatmealy oak. It is fresh but full, attractive and slightly fat on the palate. Underneath though there is a lot of acidity, providing much better definition than I found last time, more vigour and verve. This has an attractively rich, citrus fruit finish and overall I think it has great potential. A much higher score today. 17.5+/20

Chateau Malartic-Lagravière Blanc 2006: This wine is not so expressive as some on the nose, showing just some subtle but fresh fruit. On the palate it has a supply but flashy substance, which is vigorous and lively despite being rich and a touch flashy. It has a fine, bright, citrus peel element, and overall is very well composed and attractive. I like this very much indeed. 17.5+/20

Chateau Olivier Blanc 2006: Here we have a creamy citrus nose, with herb-tinged fruit, and a touch of honey, mint, aniseed and minerals. This all comes through on the palate which has a nice weight, with plenty of grip and nice acidity. This is a wine of some complexity with good substance in the mouth and overall I think it to be a success. 17+/20

Chateau Pape-Clément Blanc 2006: As expected oak dominates the nose at this stage, showing in a fairly appealing fashion, aromas of oatmeal and honeyed wood. But alongside this there are some very fresh, green fruit characteristics which keep my interest. The palate is fat, perhaps oak-influenced, showing plenty of texture and grip perhaps for the same reason. It has some appealing liquorice elements alongside the fruit. It should go without saying this needs time to integrate, but I think given that it could be really very good indeed. 18+/20

Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte Blanc 2006: This has exuberant and creamy white fruits, with a touch of rich honey. It is delightful; the palate has a lot of fat, carrying through as a midpalate weight, but it is also savoury and appealing, with plenty of grip and acidity underneath it all. Vibrant and firm, I seem to like this wine more and more each time I taste it. This is excellent, and although different in style to both Pape-Clément and Chevalier, it is close in terms of quality. 18+/20

Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2006: I wouldn't normally make any comment on colour at this stage but this surprises me with its already maturing hue. It has dense and dark fruit on the nose, with a macerated quality, and a touch of undergrowth. Rather dry, austere, lots of firm tannin on the palate, although the fruit is quite gentle in comparison. Over-worked, with a huge, grippy finish. Not a success based in this showing. 15?+/20

Domaine de Chevalier 2006: A dense colour and dense fruit here, with a creamy vanilla nose. The palate is supple, with ripe and fairly dense tannins, and a good acid backbone. This wine has substance but also elegance and this makes an excellent combination in a wine. There is a little flashy side to it but overall I think it really good, and much better than my initial impressions. 17+/20

Chateau Haut-Bailly 2006: This wine does not seem so immediately expressive on the nose today, but there are elements of dark and macerated fruit here. The palate is supple, well integrated, a little soft perhaps although it certainly has elegance. It is ripe, with correct acidity, and has a very complete and composed style with a little richness coming in later. This has very good potential. 16.5+/20

Chateau Larrivet-Haut-Brion 2006: This has a lot of nutty, slightly feral-charry fruit, with some notes of tobacco too. The palate is appealing though, as it shows a lot of Graves character already, with tobacco leaf fruit over some ripe tannins. Nice although rather gentle acidity. Good. 16+/20

Chateau Pape-Clément 2006: Lots of flashy oak in this young wine, with aromas of spiced fruits and honey signifying this. It is soft, supple and well rounded, with a firm midpalate and lots of ripe grip. It has a very plump, diffuse character but there is acidity in it, and woody tannins, it just doesn't seem well integrated at present. There is substance to it though and I suspect it will come good with time. 17+/20

Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte 2006: Previously tasted, with some improvement, this trend continues here; today the wine shows some deep fruit and nutty oak, with round and flashy character although there is a somewhat austere midpalate. Ripe and grainy tannins, lots of sweet substance and good vigour too. A touch of tobacco in the finish. Could be very good. 16.5+/20