| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > Pomerol |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
This Chateau is situated between L'Eglise Clinet and Le Gay. Already organic, it is in the process of becoming bio-dynamic. The Labruyère family from Burgundy are the owners here and aim to produce a charming and silky-textured Pomerol. the 18 hectares are planted with 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc.
The 2018 Rouget is extraordinarily ripe on the nose, featuring luscious black cherries, kirsch, iodine and raisin aromas, and becoming quite lactic with continued aeration. To be honest, I find that the ripeness shades the Pomerol DNA, so that served blind I would struggle to identify where it is from. The palate is, again, very ripe and dense, offering plush, sweet tannins, plenty of new oak and a decadent, dark-chocolate-tinged finish. This is a huge wine, but it flirts with just being a bit trop. 2024 - 2044
Blueberries, blackberries, elderberries, mushrooms and earthy notes. Spices as well. It’s full-bodied with an unctuous texture. Balanced and savory with a fine, chewy tannin structure. Flavorful finish with length. One of the best ever from here. Try after 2025.
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Rouget offers up expressive scents of baked black cherries, blackberry preserves and boysenberries with hints of underbrush, pencil lead and cedar chest, plus a waft of bouquet garni. The full-bodied palate is chock-full of muscular, oak-infused black fruit with lots of earthy accents and a sturdy frame of firm, grainy tannins, finishing just a little warm and tannic. There is a lot going on here, but it's all a bit disjointed right now. Give it a good 4-5 years in bottle and drink it over the next 15 years or more. 2025 - 2040
Tasted blind. Looks more evolved than most. Sweet with liquorice and a minty note. A determination to charm without necessarily moving with the times. Just a little hot on the end and softer than most. 14.5%
Drink 2025 – 2038
85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc; 25% new oak. Barrel sample.
Very dark black-cherry colour. Sweet vanilla-laced black fruit, nicely stony/dusty to balance the sweet blueberry fruit. Extremely smooth, polished and rounded and a touch of vanilla sweetness on the finish. (JH) 15%
Drink 2023-2030
Deep ruby in colour with a herbal nose of menthol, hedgerow and black cherry. The palate is succulent and round with a glossy texture from highly refined tannins and a ripe core of black fruit and milk chocolate. This is sweet and plush, forward and attractive, and will drink well in its youth.
Deeply colored, the 2018 Château Rouget is another impressive Pomerol, which is a region loaded with impressive wines in 2018. Cassis, black raspberries, white chocolate, and a touch of spicy wood all flow to a medium to full-bodied, beautifully layered, expansive 2018 that has top-notch mid-palate depth, notable purity of fruit, and silky tannins. Give bottles 2-4 years of bottle age and enjoy over the following 10-15.
Organic, in conversion to biodynamic. Tart and hard, this is a mineral-led wine with a sour edge to it which needs time to soften, but there is good blackberry fruit here and the oak is well-judged. This is the finest young Rouget I have tasted and it will develop slowly, and blossom into a beautiful wine.
The 2018 Rouget offers ripe kirsch, blackcurrant and violet aromas on the nose, quite potent and rich compared to its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannins. There is a lot of oak here that overshadows the fruit at the moment and there is a headiness that slightly detracts from the detail on the finish. Hopefully it will calm down by the time of bottling and gain some refinement, but there is certainly plenty of substance here. 2024 - 2044
This young wine really sings with a level of purity and precision that I’ve never seen from here. Medium to full body, ultra fine tannins and beautiful red-berry and floral character at the end.
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2018 Rouget sports quite a lot of oak at this stage, opening out to lively red and black plums notes and notions of baked cherries, blueberry compote and dried mulberries plus wafts of raisin cake, tree bark and bouquet garni. Full and concentrated, with a firm, fine-grained frame, it fills the palate with berry preserves and offers plenty of spicy and earthy nuances on the long finish.
