Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesReaders looking for a smoking deal in the vintage should grab bottles of the 2019 Château Dalem. This rich, medium to full-bodied, mouth-filling effort has lots of ripe darker cherry and blackberry fruit as well as tobacco, cedar pencil, and violet nuances. Rich, textured, balanced, and with a real sense of purity and class, it's ideal for enjoying over the coming 10-12, if not 15 years or so. Best after 2022.
Barrel Sample:92-94
Barrel Sample:92-93
Sleek and taut, with chalky threads running along the edges of a core of fresh cherry puree and cassis notes. Features a subtle tobacco accent throughout, with nice cut through the finish. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now.
Barrel Sample:91
The house at Dalem of the style of 18th century is well located only separated from the Saint Emilion slopes by the county town of Libourne and the Pomerol vineyard
The vineyard has grown over the centuries. It is oriented to the south and south-west and benefits from a maximum of sunshine. Being up on the hills, the wines are protected from frosts.
The DALEM Vineyard was founded in 1610 and stayed in the same family for more than three centuries. As a result of divisions between inheritors, the wineyard and the house were sold to Michel Rullier in 1955.
Like his predecessors, Michel Rullier has attached the greatest importance to improving the quality of this wine.
In association with oenology and tradition since 2002 his daughter Brigitte at her’s turn strives the veneyard of 15 hectares to give a wine issued of great expression combining at same time powerful with finesse. In 2015 she expanded the vineyard by 11 hectares and 10 additional hectares in 2018.
Home of the very first remarkable Right Bank wines, dating back to the 1730s, Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac actually retained more fame than Pomerol well into the 19th century. Today these wines represent some of Bordeaux’s best hidden gems.
Fronsac is a very small region at an unusually high elevation compared to other Bordeaux appellations. Its vineyards unroll along the oak-dotted hills bordering the river’s edge, making it perhaps Bordeaux’s prettiest and most majestic countryside.
Merlot covers 60% of the vineyard acreage; the rest of the vines are Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac appellations are limited to the higher land where soils are predominantly limestone and sandstone. Lower vineyards along the Dordogne River mainly qualify for Bordeaux AOC status
The best Fronsac are deeply concentrated in ripe red and black berry; they have a solid mineral backbone and are rich and plush on the finish.
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.