Winemaker Notes
The wine has a beautiful dark garnet color. The nose is deep, with good harmony between the young woodiness characteristic of their TDD barrels and the wine’s fresh fruit. Beautiful notes of licorice. On the palate, it develops quickly and is immediately very present. Consistent and balanced, it continues with tremendous length. The wine has a Pleasant finish with notes of cherries and also has the excellent potential to improve with age. It is a blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon 27% Merlot.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Barrel Sample. There are plenty of firm tannins here, although this wine succeeds because of the intense acidity and classic black currant flavors. It is already a delicious wine with its fine acidity and lively aftertaste.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 Points -
James Suckling
The smoke, almond, dark-berry and plum character is impressive to this young Duhart. Full body, round and silky tannins and beautiful fruit and spice undertones. Plenty of coffee and cedar flavors at the end. A pretty Duhart. Needs four or five years bottle age.
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Decanter
Fine, firm 73% Cabernet fruit with a brambly middle ripeness from 27% Merlot. Shows polish, depth and a restrained elegance – a firm, classy wine with a fine future.
Barrel Sample. -
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Duhart Milon is a surprisingly charming, elegant and medium-bodied Pauillac that’s 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot that was brought up in 40% new French oak. With perfumed notes of spice-box, cedarwood, toast, and sweet black currant fruit, it has sweet tannin and is already accessible, yet will cruise for two decades.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Composed of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot and aged for 14 months in barrels, 50% new, the 2015 Duhart-Milon has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and an open, expressive nose of warm red currants, black raspberries and spice cake with nuances of cedar chest, bay leaves and tobacco plus a waft of rose hips. Medium-bodied, vibrant and refreshing in the mouth, it has a good amount of chewy tannins and layers of lively red and black fruits, finishing on an earthy note.
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.