Right-bank Bordeaux from the excellent, very hot
vintage of 1989.
The bottle itself announces Grand cru status, although more recently this Château was elevated
to Premier grand cru classé B status in the 2012 reclassification of the
wines of Saint-Émilion, putting it just a notch below Château Cheval Blanc and
Château Ausone (who themselves got two new companions in lofty Premier grand cru classé A, Château
Angélus and Château Pavie).
There is some bricking at the rim, but otherwise it
remains dark and inscrutable. The bouquet mixes strong sweet and savoury
presences, with currants, vanilla cream and chocolate jostling for place with earth,
coffee and geranium. There is also the gentle suggestion of cassis and pencil
lead, flavours one would expect to be more pronounced in left-bank Bordeaux. We
disagree about whether it is resolved or not; personally I still find it mouth-coating
and tannic, although one would certainly expect the tannins to be essentially
resolved at this age. However, DL’s take is that it is already resolved, but
the fruit is drying out, lending it a very dry finish that may feel tannic. It’s
quite sweet, no doubt a result of the Merlot dominating the blend; N1 finds it
suggestive of some American wines. It may not have a very long finish, but
there is lots of interest and plenty of solidity; no hurry to drink up. Personally
I would even wait to see the secondaries come out more.
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