Château Marquis d’Alesme-Becker 2023

The 2023 Marquis d’Alesme Becker has a well-defined bouquet like its sibling Labégorce. It unfurls more slowly in the glass, revealing perfumed iris and violet scents interwoven into the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with very pliant tannin. Slightly powdery in texture, it possesses fine weight and an expressive, lightly spiced finish. This is a well-crafted, modestly endowed Margaux, though this year I am more smitten by the Labégorce. Drinking window: 2027-2039. (Neal Martin,vinous.com)