Le Dôme 2015

Composed of 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot, the deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Le Dome has a drop dead gorgeous perfume of violets, black forest cake, rose hip and red jelly with touches of lavender, spice cake and earth. The palate is medium to full-bodied and super intense with super ripe, super fine-grained tannins, wonderful freshness and a very long perfumed, mineral-laced finish. Drink 2020-2050.

What could be considered the flagship wine of the estate (although most wines are single vineyards raised identically), the 2015 Le Dome is the normal blend of 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot that's from a parcel located down on the slopes of the Saint Emilion plateau. This beauty boasts a deep, saturated purple color to go with a huge, exotic notes of blueberry and cassis fruit intermixed with notions of crushed flowers, mint, violets, and cassis, crushed flowers, violets, and hints of earth. With full-bodied richness, phenomenal purity of fruit, and a sexy, seductive texture, it's another knockout wine from this estate. Drink it any time over the coming 10-15 years.

The 2015 Le Dôme offers smudged brambly red fruit mixed with cedar and leather, a little more forward than I would have expected. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannin, plenty of black cherry and white pepper notes with a slightly animally, yet persistent finish. This does improve in the glass so give it ample aeration. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.

The 2015 Le Dome has a very attractive bouquet, the purest and most sophisticated from Jonathan Maltus, ebullient blueberry and bilberry jam, bunches of violets and a splash of Indian ink. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannin, spicy with a healthy dash of black pepper, very focused with a vibrant and lively finish. Jonathan Maltus believes this might be better than 2010...he has a point. Anticipated maturity: 2021 - 2045.

The 2015 Le Dôme is a blend of 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot picked on October 2 and 6. It has a clean and precise bouquet, tightly wound at first, gently warming up, developing more delineation and focus. This might be a more understated Le Dôme compared to recent years, but you might argue more sophisticated. The palate is medium-bodied with impressive density, a vein of dark chocolate on the entry that is rapidly overtaken by layers of lightly spiced black fruit. The finish is tightly wound at the moment, but it will open by the time of bottling. What I like here is the fineness of the tannin, something not always exuded by Mathus' top cuvée. It simply expresses the joys of Cabernet Franc and it should age nicely over the next 5-20 years. Drink 2021-2045

Very suave and attractively cast aromas of violets, blueberries, plums and dark chocolate with spicy, cedary notes and slate-like nuances. The palate’s velvety, fleshy and smooth with dark berries, chocolate and roasted-coffee flavors set in ribbon-like, silky tannins. Try from 2022.

A juicy red with walnut, berry and chocolate aromas and flavors. Full and savory. Loads of fruit and chewy tannins.

Jonathan Maltus' 2015 Le Dôme is so much more expressive from bottle than it was from barrel. Packed and intense to the core, the 2015 speaks with a confident tone. Black cherry, chocolate, torrefaction, leather, rose petal and exotic spice pulse with energy in this vibrant, super-polished Cabernet Franc–driven Saint-Émilion. Le Dôme is the most vibrant and complex wine in this superb range from Maltus. The blend is 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot. 2022 - 2030

The 2015 Le Dôme, 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot, shows good energy and saline tension that is such a signature of Cabernet Franc-based wines. At the same time, there is plenty of the signature Maltus richness and intensity here. Le Dôme is the most distinctive wine in the range today.

Tasted blind. Fresh and floral but a bit light and inconsequential.
Drink 2022-2028

Mid crimson. Bloody flavours and with round satin tannins. Quite a statement! Just a bit thicker than perfection. I wonder how this will age? Dangerous!?
Drink 2024-2034

Depth on the nose the start of the palate is fleshy and ripe with a mix of black fruits and liquorice. Lighter and fresher in the middle but the tannins are ripe supple and fleshy at the back with depth of fruit on the finish. 2022-35

There are very few wines in Bordeaux with as much Cabernet Franc as Le Dôme, and
the freshness and leafy, violet-tinged perfume are gloriously apparent here. Grassy and
elegant (despite the high alcohol), it’s got plenty of tannin and fruit weight but finishes with
remarkable zip. Drink: 2022-35

With incredible fruit and exceptional balance, in spite of the dimensions, this is the Cabernet Franc-dominant wine of
the vintage. This never lets up in the intensity, purity, drive and intent. This is a staggeringly serious Le Dôme and the
complexity of this wine is hard for me to comprehend given only a short time to taste it. The volume and intensity of this
wine is amazing, but it is not muscular nor is it excessively oaky. Atypical and maverick but undoubtedly magnificent this
is one of the wines of the vintage