Chateau Olivier 2009
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Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This has smooth, rich fruit, with sweet berries, ripe tannins and strong layers of wood. The wine is powerful; the stalky and bitter chocolate edge contrasts the sweet, ripe fruit. This is meant for long-term aging.
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James Suckling
A wine with plum and berry character and hints of spice and earth. Full body, with soft and velvety tannins and a juicy finish.
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Wine Spectator
This is nicely packed with espresso, roasted tobacco, dark fig paste and currant reduction notes, all pushed by a long, charcoal-tinged finish. Fresh acidity is buried from start to finish, too. Best from 2014 through 2024.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This perennial underachiever performed well above my expectations, and I am prepared to say this is the best Olivier I have ever tasted. Dense ruby/purple, with sweet, unsmoked cigar tobacco intermixed with graphite, black currants, cherries, and spice, it is medium to full-bodied, fleshy, beautifully textured, and long. It should drink well for 20 or more years.
Range: 88-90+ Points
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Wine &
Spirits -
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Spectator
For years and years, Chateau Olivier has brought together the present and the past by making wines of great art in an estate that is the stuff of legends... Fashioned by the terroir in which they are rooted, shaped by all those who work the vines, the wines of Chateau Olivier are a magnificent expression of their appellation among the six Classified Growths of Graves in red and white. Skillfully perpetuating the history of the estate, the wine-growers of Olivier help give the wines they produce the same charm and authenticity as its surrounding walls which are nearly a thousand years old.
Our ambition to develop quality further can be seen first and foremost in the dynamic, technically modern methods we use to enhance the terroir. The recent geological discoveries in the two gravel mounds of Olivier have confirmed the richness and diversity of an outstanding viticultural heritage. 11 different terroirs have been identified, passed down by those who once contributed to the building of the fine reputation of Bordeaux’s great growths. The new vat-house, re-designed to bring the very best out of each of the estate’s plots, house the year’s harvest. It is a perfect balance between ancient architecture and state-of-the-art equipment.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.