Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby robe, intense aromas of black berries, toast, spices and vanilla. Fresh and fruity in the mouth with velvety tannins and a nice finish.
Blend: 85% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec, 5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
An attractively perfumed, wood-aged wine, this is ripe and developing well. Plush tannins and ripe fruits show both plenty of freshness and the still-solid structure. This will be a fine wine in the years to come, so just wait to drink until 2021.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Chateau Fleur Haut Gaussens is a blend of 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec. There is initially a soupçon of small reduction on the nose, although this soon blows away to reveal attractive blackberry, cedar and woodland scents. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins on the entry that lacquer the mouth. But there is also plenty of freshness here, very focused with impressive body and density on the finish. What a superb Bordeaux Supérieur! This is worth hunting down. (Readers in the UK should note that this is distributed through Berry Brothers & Rudd.)
In most of France, wines are named by their place of origin and not by the type of grape (with the exception of Alsace). Just like a red Burgundy is by law, always made of Pinot noir, a red Bordeaux is a blended wine composed mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Depending on the laws of the village from which the grapes come, the conditions of the vintage and decisions of the winemaker, the blend can be further supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot and in rare cases, Carmenere. So popular and repeated has this mix of grape varieties become worldwide, that the term, Bordeaux Blend, refers to a wine blended in this style, regardless of origin.
YNG398962_2016 Item# 538795