Winemaker Notes
Blend: 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A beautiful black fruit laden Pauillac that, even at this early stage, exhibits an essence of sister estate Mouton. The wine is starting to open out but there is a lot more to come with silky tannins that are well integrated. As usual, in a modest vintage, this is a wine that punches well above its weight.
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James Suckling
Attractive aromas of sweet plums, cassis, dusty spices and tobacco. Medium-bodied with integrated, fine-grained tannins. Delicate flavors and a long, scented finish. 50% cabernet sauvignon, 36% merlot, 12% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot.
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Vinous
The 2014 d'Armailhac is bright, precise and finely sculpted. Expressive red stone fruit, flowers, mint, chalk and citrus abound in this vibrant, beautifully delineated Pauillac. Open-knit and expressive, with good depth and silky tannins, the wine exudes class. The fresh, invigorating style is classic 2014. This is a lovely showing. Tasted two times.
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Wine Enthusiast
Sometimes seen as the junior estate in the Mouton-Rothschild stable, this property is now showing its own fine character. The wine is juicy with crisp fruit and soft tannins. It is in a rounded generous style that will allow it to be drinkable relatively soon. Drink starting from 2020.
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Wine Spectator
Fresh and pure, but not shy on depth, offering an ample core of cassis and blackberry purée flavors. There's a fine chalky minerality throughout, but overall the structure is polished. Anise and spice notes add range.
An 1855 Classified Growth, Château d’Armailhac is bordered to the north by Château Mouton Rothschild. It has 76 hectares (187 acres) of south-facing vines with an average age of 40 years, stretching over three gravel banks that embrace all the typical features of the Pauillac appellation.
The terroir, mostly comprising deep gravel, clay or clay-limestone and gravelly sand, is planted with classic Médoc grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon (55%), Merlot (35%), Cabernet Franc (8%) and Petit Verdot (2%).
The Cabernet Franc vines, which have an average age of 60 years, are mostly planted on the Plateau des Levantines, an ideal terroir in which they can put down deep roots. Derived from ancestral massal selections, these remarkable Cabernet Francs make up a relatively high proportion of the blend and are a hallmark of the wine.
Château d’Armailhac takes its name from the d’Armailhacq family who purchased the estate in 1660. Its history is bound up with that of pioneers of modern winegrowing such as Armand d’Armailhac.
The estate was acquired by Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988) in 1933, then inherited by his daughter Philippine de Rothschild (1933-2014). It now belongs to her three children, Camille and Philippe Sereys de Rothschild and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, who, with passion and the same attachment to the terroir, continue the family’s quest for excellence and innovation in the vineyard and winery.
Château d’Armailhac is a fine wine, typical of the Pauillac appellation, with an elegant classicism regardless of the vintage, and a robust and refined tannic structure.
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.
The leader on the Left Bank in number of first growth classified producers within its boundaries, Pauillac has more than any of the other appellations, at three of the five. Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild border St. Estephe on its northern end and Chateau Latour is at Pauillac’s southern end, bordering St. Julien.
While the first growths are certainly some of the better producers of the Left Bank, today they often compete with some of the “lower ranked” producers (second, third, fourth, fifth growth) in quality and value. The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification that goes back to 1855. The finest chateaux in that year were judged on the basis of reputation and trading price; changes in rank since then have been miniscule at best. Today producers such as Chateau Pontet-Canet, Chateau Grand Puy-Lacoste, Chateau Lynch-Bages, among others (all fifth growth) offer some of the most outstanding wines in all of Bordeaux.
Defining characteristics of fine wines from Pauillac (i.e. Cabernet-based Bordeaux Blends) include inky and juicy blackcurrant, cedar or cigar box and plush or chalky tannins.
Layers of gravel in the Pauillac region are key to its wines’ character and quality. The layers offer excellent drainage in the relatively flat topography of the region allowing water to run off into “jalles” or streams, which subsequently flow off into the Gironde.