Chateau Dalem (Futures Pre-Sale) 2021
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James
Suckling - Decanter
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A fragrant, spicy red with olives, currants and iron on the nose, alongside cloves and violets. Medium-bodied, fine and elegant with sleek tannins. Juicy and precise. Merlot and cabernet franc.
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Decanter
Gentle red fruit flavours permeate the palate giving a sense of vibrancy, this has the acidity and mouthwatering aspects but also the frame and structure that gives a push/pull of both life and constriction. I like the texture and the salty stone as well as sour fruit aspects creating real interest on the palate. It's lightly framed but well worked with excellent clarity. A great effort here. Drinking Window: 2024 - 2028.
Barrel Sample: 90
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Jeb
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Robert
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Jeb
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James
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Robert
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James
Suckling -
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Spectator -
Jeb
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Robert
Parker
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James
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James
Suckling -
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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.
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.
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.