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Armailhac 2009

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pauillac
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon

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Tasting Notes

The finest d'Armailhac I have tasted to date, the 2009 is largely Cabernet Sauvignon (60%) blended with a big wallop of Merlot (25%) and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Its dense purple color is followed by a big, sweet kiss of asphalt, black currants, mocha, barbecue smoke, cedar and spice. This medium to full-bodied, well-made, impressively endowed Pauillac should drink well for 20+ years. Drink: 2012 - 2032

92
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (199), March 2012

The 2009 d’Armailhac has a lovely bouquet with ample blackberry, boysenberry, graphite and light mint aromas - very Pauillac and very well focused. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent tannin, moderate acidity, good depth and very grippy. It is not the most complex Pauillac in this group but there is fine persistence with pure black cherry and hints of cassis towards the finish. Fine. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.

92
Neal Martin, vinous.com, March 2019

Love the minty, floral and dark berry aromas to this young wine. Full-bodied, with supe fine and polished tannins. Long and racy. Wonderful texture. Perhaps the best d'Armailhac ever. 60 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 24 percent Merlot, 14 percent Cabernet Franc and 2 percent Petit Verdot.

91/94
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, March 2010

The 2009 D'Armailhac has a medium to deep garnet color, and vibrant red and black fruit preserves, incense, earth and dried herbs all spring from the glass with a faint undercurrent of beef drippings. Medium-bodied, firm and chewy in the mouth, it has just enough maturing, savory fruit to fill the palate, with a lively line of freshness and an herbal lift on the finish. 2019 - 2029

90
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (March 2019), March 2019

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Picked 23 Sep - 6 Oct. Very dark crimson. Inky and fragrant with just a hint of farmyard. Black cherries for the first time on the left bank! Less obviously ripe and supple than many 2009s on the nose but then on the palate there's a sweet start and then a pretty chewy, slightly sinewy finish. Sweet and polished - not too much soul but an awful lot of effective artifice! Reasonably complete. More traditional tannin management than some. Fairly chunky. Date tasted 1st April 2010. Drink 2017-2030.

16.5+
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2010

This good value classed growth Pauillac was formerly known as Mouton Baronne Philippe and is made by the same team as Mouton Rothschild. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Dark colour with a roasted, powerful nose. Loads of black cassis fruit on the palate with a hint of toasty oak. Great Pauillac. This is a significant step-up in quality from the 2005. The best Armailhac ever? We loved it!

93
Farr Vintners, November 2009

There is an appealing red fruited freshness on the nose allowing the fruit fragrances to show themselves to advantage. The palate has the richness of ripe fruit with lots of fleshy cassis enriched by black cherry. Some oak is in evidence, the spicy vanilla adding rather than detracting. Drink 2020-2040.

91/94
Derek Smedley MW, April 2010

Dense purple red, lovely expression of ripe blackcurrant fruit, polished, classy, seductive and impressive, beautiful texture and length, totally charming Pauilac that will age well. Drink 2014-25.

17.5
Steven Spurrier, Decanter.com, April 2010

Plenty of ripe cassis and chocolate with a hint of smoke on the nose lead you into a ripe and velvety Pauillac that now gives a lot of pleasure thanks to the excellent harmony and good length. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)

93
Stuart Pigott, JamesSuckling.com, March 2019
Read more tasting notes...

This may be the finest d'Armailhac I have ever tasted. Made in a textured, full-bodied, sumptuous style, it is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and the balance primarily Cabernet Franc with a tiny dosage of Petit Verdot. It exhibits a deep ruby/purple hue along with floral, red and black currant, cedar, and spice characteristics. Deep, medium to full-bodied, and impressively pure as well as long, it should drink well for 25 years. (Tasted three times.) Drink 2010-2035. Robert Parker added an asterisk to this wine score to signify that it is a wine he considers has the finest potential of all the offerings he has ever tasted from this estate in nearly 32 years of barrel tasting samples in Bordeaux.

90/93
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (188), April 2010

Tasted at Château Mouton-Rothschild. The d'Armailhac 2009 has a gorgeous, voluptuous bouquet with black cherries, cassis and a touch of oyster shell. The palate is medium-bodied with rounded, firm tannins, gentle but insistent grip with touches of graphite and sous-bois towards the composed, minerally finish. There is a little more linearity compared to previous vintages - but very stylish and a little more "classic" in style. Tasted November 2011.

92
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, December 2011

Tasted at Château Mouton-Rothschild and at a negociant. A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. This has a fragrant, perfumed nose with a Margaux-like personality. Taut blackberry and bilberry fruit, good definition, coiled up aromatics, becoming stonier with aeration, good minerality coming through, perhaps stricter than recent vintages of d'Armailhac. The palate has a very smooth entry, supple tannins, citric acidity, very pure and generous, lovely sense of refinement towards the tannic, blackberry, stony finish. Perhaps a little more conservative at this stage, the oak is bound to buff it up by time of bottling. Tasted March 2010.

91/93
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, April 2010
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.