| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
The 2014 Talbot has a ripe and generous bouquet with black cherries, boysenberry and light violet petal aromas that gain intensity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chewy and chunky tannin, good weight in the mouth if just missing the finesse of its peers towards the finish. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. 2020 - 2035
The smoky oak, full body and chunky tannins make a bold statement; indeed, the wine has plenty of flesh and packs a big tannic punch on the finish. Best Talbot in years. Drink in 2023.
Tasted blind. Very dark and slightly evolved-looking. Dense and for the moment somewhat impenetrable but promising. Lots of life in there. Somewhat inky for the moment. But gorgeous.
Drink 2024-2044
Cut from the same cloth as the 2015, just more classic in style, the 2014 Château Talbot offers lots of black fruits, smoked herbs, graphite and a touch of lead pencil on the nose. This is followed by a classically styled, medium-bodied, dense, impressively concentrated 2014 that has another 10-15 years of prime drinking. This is always a well-made, classic Saint-Julien and readers can’t go wrong here. 2018 - 2033
This has melded together nicely already, with a core of gently steeped plum, blackberry and anise flavors intertwined with light licorice snap and roasted apple wood notes. Focused and solid, but with a charming supple edge. Best from 2020 through 2030. 26,283 cases made.
The nose is quite tight the start of the palate firm fresh but a bit closed. The touch of sweetness in the middle is overtaken by freshness the finish lacks richness is quite short and tending to dry. 2025-36
The 2014 Talbot felt reticent and tightly knit on the nose, so I placed my glass to one side and allowed it to aerate for 15-20 minutes. This paid dividends as it revealed blackcurrant, smoke and tobacco aromas, hints of boysenberry with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, quite structure and perhaps needing more flow. It feels a little rigid at the moment and I would want more persistence and depth on the finish. Let's see how this ages in bottle, because it certainly showed improvement between samples in October 2016 and February 2017. Drink Date 2020-2040
The Château Talbot 2014 has a simple bouquet that is missing the sophistication and nuance that is a consistent in Saint Julien wines this year. Aerating the glass for 5 minutes does seem to evolve more delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with chalky tannin. There is a nice line of acidity here, a little hardness towards the finish but an attractive spicy aftertaste that lingers in the mouth. I can envisage this to be a more austere Saint Julien but if it gains flesh during élevage it could be an interesting proposition. Drink: 2018 - 2035.
This is really powerful with excellent depth of fruit and richness. Spices, blueberries and lightly toasted oak now. But it shows really serious structure. Best Talbot in years, maybe decades.
Dark purplish crimson. Sweet, almost bonbon nose. But a bit short of juice on the palate. Hard work and drying on the end. May come right eventually but for the moment it is much more obdurate than its neighbours.
Drink 2024-2032
