Château Maucamps 2020 is a Cru Bourgeois Haut-Médoc from Bordeaux, built on Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and a touch of Petit Verdot, grown on Garonne gravels at Macau. Firm and cassis-driven, it has the polish to drink now and the frame to sit for years yet.

Blackcurrant and dark plum come first, with cedar, pencil shaving and a leafy edge that keeps things savoury rather than sweet. Air brings tobacco leaf, crushed gravel and a faint violet lift.

The 2020 growing season across the Médoc was warm and dry with an early harvest, and that shows in the fruit density here rather than in any heaviness. Tannins are ripe and finely grained, the acidity holds the middle taut, and the finish is long and dry with graphite and a return of blackcurrant. Cabernet Sauvignon leads the shape of the wine, while the Merlot fills the mid-palate.

Serve with roast lamb shoulder, a dry-aged sirloin, slow-cooked beef cheeks or a plate of hard cheeses. Decant an hour ahead if you are opening it young.

Drinking well from now through to about 2035, with the mid-2020s onward the sweet spot as the tannins soften and the secondary characters build.