Region | |
---|---|
Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > St Emilion |
Colour | Red |
Type | Still |
The quintessential garagiste offering from proprietor Bernard Magrez, this blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc receives such Burgundian treatments as a cold pre-fermentation maceration, malolactic in barrel, aging on its lees, and no fining or filtration. Offering a dense purple color along with huge creosote, smoke, melted licorice, fudge, blueberry, graphite, and coffee characteristics, it represents full-throttle, modern winemaking at its most intense, and is likely to cause neo-traditionalists to suffer from migraines. Expect this beauty to hit full maturity around 2014, and keep until 2030+.
Tasted blind. Very dark crimson. Light nose. Search for the flavour! Lots of structure. Very drying finish. Not much charm. 14%
Drink 2016-2024
Deep red-ruby. Aromas of raspberry, smoked meat, mocha and marzipan convey an almost exotic ripeness. Fat, large-scaled and supersweet; undeniably thick and concentrated but perhaps a bit unrefined. Finishes with huge but sweet tannins. A major mouthful of wine. Fans of sheer size will rate it higher.
One of the new, “modernist,” garagiste offerings from proprietor Bernard Magrez, this wine, produced from a 5-acre parcel of the large Fombrauge vineyard, is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. Treated like a favored child, it enjoys a cold maceration, barrel fermentation, aging on its lees, and no fining or filtration. A dense purple color is accompanied by sweet blueberry and creme de cassis notes interwoven with hints of licorice, graphite, and pain grille. Full-bodied and powerful with high tannin as well as superb concentration and purity, it will be drinkable between 2012-2025.
A spectacular effort fashioned from tiny yields of 22 hectoliters per hectare, this blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc (harvested during the first week of October) reveals a black/purple color as well as sweet aromas of creme de cassis, blueberry liqueur, graphite, and espresso roast. Opulent and full-bodied, with tremendous viscosity in addition to good underlying structure and definition, superb purity, broad, powerful flavors, and the potential to evolve for 20-25 years or more, it should be at its apogee between 2010-2030. Wow!
Very refined and beautiful with very silky tannins and lovely fruit. Full-bodied, with lovely texture. Seductive. New wave. Ultraclean.